Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of an off peak return ticket between Crewe Railway Station and London Euston Railway Station was in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cost of an off-peak return ticket in each of the last 15 years between Crewe and London Euston was:
2010 | £60.10 |
2011 | £63.60 |
2012 | £67.40 |
2013 | £70.20 |
2014 | £72.40 |
2015 | £74.20 |
2016 | £74.90 |
2017 | £76.30 |
2018 | £79.00 |
2019 | £81.50 |
2020 | £83.80 |
2021 | £86.00 |
2022 | £89.30 |
2023 | £94.60 |
2024 | £99.20 |
2025 | £103.80 |
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many potholes in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England have been repaired since July 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s road condition statistics consider a broader definition of road condition than numbers of potholes, and so official data on this aspect of road condition is not available for the time periods requested. However, as announced in March, local highway authorities must publish transparency reports about their maintenance activities to unlock their full share of the Government’s £500m uplift for local highways maintenance this year. While data is not required to be provided at a constituency level, Staffordshire have estimated that they have filled 37,308 potholes during the financial year of 2024-25. Reports are available on local highway authorities’ websites and officials are in the process of reviewing these.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of airports charging cars to drop off travelling passengers on blue badge holders.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Secretary of State for Transport has made no assessment of the potential impact of airports charging cars to drop of travelling passengers on blue badge holders.
Most airports in the UK are managed and operated as private businesses, and parking arrangements are subject to contractual agreements between airport operators and car parking companies covered by consumer laws.
The provision and charging of car parking at airports (including drop off and pick charges) is a matter for the airport operator as a commercial business to manage and justify.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the operators and management of each UK Airport on the increase in costs of passenger drop-offs and pick-ups; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this on the livelihoods of people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.
Answered by Mike Kane
Most airports in the UK are managed and operated as private businesses, and parking arrangements are subject to contractual agreements between airport operators and car parking companies covered by consumer laws.
The provision and charging of car parking at airports (including drop off and pick charges) is a matter for the airport operator as a commercial business to manage and justify.
Officials regularly engage with commercial airports on a large number of matters such as surface access, which includes the use of drop off charges, to improve access to airports whilst taking into account associated environmental impacts.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of flight connections between England and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mike Kane
We recognise the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in the UK that supports Union connectivity.
The Department continues to joint-fund a Public Service Obligation route between London and Derry/Londonderry.
During March 2025, around 4,000 passenger flights were operated by airlines including Aer Lingus, British Airways, easyJet, Loganair and Ryanair, between several airports across England and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on reducing the average waiting time for driving tests in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. Significant progress has already been made as part of the DVSA’s 7-point plan to reduce waiting times with 1.95 million tests delivered last year nationally, but there is more work to be done.
The current waiting time for a car practical driving test at Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stafford is 24 weeks.
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. Further information on these actions and progress on DVSA’s 7-point plan, which was set out last year, can be found on GOV.UK.
DVSA is continuing to recruit as many DEs as possible. As a result of recent recruitment campaigns, offers of employment have been made to two potential new driving examiners (DE), one for Stoke-on-Trent (Cobridge) and one for Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with the executive management team of HS2 Limited.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT Ministers regularly meet with Mark Wild and the other members of HS2’s executive team to discuss the range of issues related to the delivery of HS2. In addition, Government has re-established regular meetings of the HS2 Ministerial Task Force to ensure ministerial oversight of the project. The last meeting took place on 18 March 2025 and was chaired by the Transport Secretary, with the Rail Minister, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and senior executives from HS2 Ltd in attendance.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for making available land acquired by the Government for cancelled northern legs of HS2.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My department is thoroughly reviewing the position we have inherited before setting out more detailed plans in due course, including future plans for HS2 Phase 2b safeguarding and a disposal programme for land and property acquired for HS2 that is no longer required. We expect to be able to provide further detail of our intended approach for Phase 2b safeguarding during the summer. Any land acquired for Phase 2 that is no longer required will be sold in line with Treasury rules through a disposal programme.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council on the (a) adequacy and (b) reliability of public transport in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Although we have had representations from Staffordshire County Council on a range of transport matters, we have not, over the last five years, received correspondence from Staffordshire County Council specifically on the adequacy or reliability of public transport in Newcastle-Under-Lyme or North Staffordshire.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council in relation to potholes in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department receives regular correspondence from many local highway authorities on the topic of local highway maintenance, including potholes. Over the last five years, the Department’s records suggest that Staffordshire County Council has made formal representations to the Department four times on highway maintenance and other funding issues. The Department’s officials are in regular informal contact with officers from Staffordshire County Council on local highway maintenance issues.