Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing emergency bus funding directly to local transport authorities as opposed to bus operators.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To ensure consistency with Bus Services Operators Grant (BSOG), the majority of Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) funding is paid directly to operators. Local Transport Authorities do also receive some CBSSG funding for tendered services. However, we do not believe that now is the right time to change our funding models.
We are also keen to avoid a situation where different funding models are operating in different parts of the country, which would cause additional challenges for cross-border services or operators whose businesses span multiple urban areas.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to (a) provide longer term covid-19 financial support to and (b) extend the powers of city region transport authorities after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has committed up to £27.3 million per week to support the bus sector, through the Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG) Restart scheme. This funding - some of which is allocated to Local Transport Authorities, for tendered services - has no pre-agreed end date. The Government will work with bus operators and local authorities to review when it is appropriate to end the funding. We are also providing up to £67.8 million of funding for light rail services in Manchester, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, West Midlands, Nottingham and Blackpool for the period from 27 October to the end of the 20/21 financial year.
The Government is also investing in city regions for the longer term. As announced at Budget and confirmed in the Spending Review, the Government is investing £4.2 billion in the transport networks of eight city regions across England from 22/23. This funding will be delivered through multi-year, consolidated transport settlements agreed with central government and based on plans put forward by city regions. The Government is currently engaging with the eligible city regions to understand their ambitions for this fund.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote UK manufactured steel use across their Tier 1 contractors.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is working closely with the UK steel industry to ensure UK steel manufacturers and fabricators have clear visibility of future opportunities to supply steel products for our major transport infrastructure projects and understand how they can bid for future work, including by facilitating engagement between UK steel producers and our Tier 1 contractors.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote UK manufactured steel use in infrastructure projects.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is working closely with the UK steel industry to ensure UK steel manufacturers and fabricators have clear visibility of future opportunities to supply steel products for our major transport infrastructure projects and understand how they can bid for future work, including by facilitating engagement between UK steel producers and our Tier 1 contractors.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that procurement spend on steel remains within the UK steel supply chain.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is working closely with the UK steel industry to ensure UK steel manufacturers and fabricators have clear visibility of future opportunities to supply steel products for our major transport infrastructure projects and understand how they can bid for future work, including by facilitating engagement between UK steel producers and our Tier 1 contractors.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for this policy on HS2 of the findings of the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment for The Midlands and The North: Final Report, published on 15 December 2020 that prioritising regional links has the potential to deliver the highest benefits for cities in the Midlands and the North rather than the eastern leg of HS2 Phase 2b.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following full consideration of the National Infrastructure Commission's report, the Government expects to publish the Integrated Rail Plan early in 2021.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment for The Midlands and The North: Final Report, published on 15 December 2020, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise regional links in the Midlands and the North.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following full consideration of the National Infrastructure Commission's report, the Government expects to publish the Integrated Rail Plan early in 2021.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timescale is for a hybrid bill for the Eastern Leg of Phase 2b of High Speed Two.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following full consideration of the National Infrastructure Commission's report, the Government expects to publish the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) early in 2021. Plans for legislation covering the Eastern Leg of HS2 Phase 2b will be confirmed following the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and the Midlands.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following full consideration of the National Infrastructure Commission's report, the Government expects to publish the Integrated Rail Plan early in 2021.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the coach industry in areas with tier 3 covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has announced several measures available to UK businesses, including the coach sector, to support them through this challenging time, and launched a ‘support finder’ tool to help businesses quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them during the coronavirus pandemic.
From 2 December councils in England in Tier 2 and Tier 3 will receive funding to provide grants to closed businesses and to be able to run local discretionary grant schemes to provide support to affected businesses. These allocations will be published shortly and are in addition to the £2.3 billion already provided to local councils since the start of the pandemic. The Local Authority administers the scheme and determines on a case-by-case basis where to allocate this funding.