Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 8th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Harper]

Obviously that specific case should not have happened. If the hon. Lady sends through the details, I will make sure that the roads Minister looks at it in detail. Generally, medical cases are taking longer to get sorted out than general cases following both the pandemic and industrial action, but we are well on our way to getting that on track. I will, however, make sure the roads Minister looks at that specific case.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

T7. Junction 11 of the M65 currently only allows traffic to join going eastwards towards Colne, where the motorway ends, and not westwards towards the M6, opening up the whole country. The result is a majorly congested Burnley town centre and a limit to economic opportunity. Could my right hon. Friend set out what funding opportunities are available for a viability study into a westwards slip road?

[Jesse Norman]

In 2021, we asked National Highways to undertake a study looking at possible interventions on or around the M65 at Colne. That study focused on localised congestion pinch points on that road, which is owned and managed by Lancashire County Council. It concluded in 2022, and the findings were handed over to the council and Transport for the North. It is for them to decide what further action they may wish to take as a result, but I know they will, and they certainly should, attend closely to what my hon. Friend said.

Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 20th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Harper]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question, to which I have two responses. First, HS2, as I frequently say but is not always well understood, is about freeing up capacity on the west coast main line both for passenger services and for freight. In my George Bradshaw address, I made it clear that later this year Great British Railways will set a freight target to get more freight off our roads and on to our railway network to help decarbonise our transport system.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

T3. For disabled people, access to public transport is often the difference between having a job and not, between socialising and not, and between living independently and not. In my constituency, in Burnley and Padiham, a brilliant young man called Joe Skinner has made it his mission to improve disabled access on buses, whose current design does not take account of modern wheelchair sizes. So may I ask my right hon. Friend when disabled access requirements were last reviewed, whether he would come to Burnley to meet Joe and talk about this, and whether he would praise Joe for the work he does, not just for disabled people in Burnley, but for people right across the country?

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Jesse Norman)]

I thank my hon. Friend for that; he has been a great champion of this cause. I absolutely join him in praising Joe Skinner. Let me also praise Cameron Wood in my constituency, who has been equally hard-working in pressing the case for the improvement of disabled access. I know that my hon. Friend has already met the buses Minister, whom I know is keen to get up to Burnley—I would be very supportive of that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

12. What steps he is taking to help provide support for local transport routes.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking to help provide support for local transport routes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Harper]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue and I am sorry to hear about the difficulties that his constituents are facing in accessing bus services. I know from my constituency how vital bus services are for individuals to get to work and to access education and healthcare. We are engaging with bus operators and local authorities to help to resolve the challenges that they face. The national bus strategy sets out our vision for bus services across England to deliver better bus services. To that end, we are investing more than £1 billion to support local authorities to deliver their bus service improvement plans, including £30 million for Hertfordshire County Council, which will support improvements to bus services in his constituency.

[Antony Higginbotham]

Bus routes across Burnley and Padiham are vital to local connectivity and give residents a link to jobs, leisure and essential public services. Too often, however, they are late or cancelled, which has a particular impact on those in rural parts of Burnley, such as Worsthorne and Cliviger. Does the Secretary of State agree that buses are not nice-to-haves but an essential service for local residents? Will he ensure that they are given the priority that they need to continue to improve that service?

[Mr Harper]

I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of local bus services. We know that the bus sector continues to face a number of challenges, including driver shortages, which are resulting in some services being reduced or cancelled. We are working with the industry to resolve that. As I said in my previous answer, we are investing substantially to improve bus services; he will be pleased to know that £30 million of the funding that we have supplied has been allocated to support improvements to bus services in Lancashire, including in his Burnley constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Robert Courts)]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the aviation sector has benefited from approximately £8 billion of support from the Government’s cross-economy measures. We are just about to announce the third iteration of the airport and ground handlers business rates support scheme to help with fixed costs. We will continue to listen to the sector to understand how best it may be supported.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

T3. Despite Burnley having a premier league football club, a university campus, world-class engineering companies and an incredible spa resort, there is still just one rail service between Burnley and Manchester an hour. Will the Secretary of State look at that, and meet me to see what we can do to increase that frequency?

[Hon. Members]

Happy birthday!

Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. The Chancellor has been a tad busy in the past week or so on a very important economic piece for the country. The Bakerloo line extension is a Transport for London project and the issuing of safeguarding directions actually represents the Government’s commitment to fund the project, but it protects the route from conflicting development that could have raised the cost of the project significantly in the future. His question is best aimed at the Mayor.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

What preparatory steps his Department is taking on the safe restart of international travel during the covid-19 pandemic.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

The Government have launched the global travel taskforce mark 2 in order to help facilitate international travel as we deal with this virus.

[Antony Higginbotham]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that thousands of manufacturing jobs in my constituency are reliant on the aerospace and aviation sector. What those people need more than anything else is aircraft in the air, flying again. Will my right hon. Friend set out what steps he is taking with global partners, including looking at schemes such as the International Air Transport Association’s travel pass, to get aircraft flying again in a way that is safe and sustainable?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He will recall that mark 1 of the global travel taskforce introduced test to release to assist with this. Mark 2 will introduce travel certification by using schemes such as IATA’s travel pass or the World Economic Forum’s CommonPass. He will be interested to know that I have been having conversations with my US counterpart and many others around the world to get that travel going again. The report will be on 12 April.

Oral Answers to Questions

Antony Higginbotham Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ms Ghani]

It is a shame that the hon. Member is always running down buses and does not even speak about the network in his constituency, where bus patronage is going up. We have just committed a further £220 million. Furthermore, on the request of the Transport Committee and a number of people lobbying for the very same thing that we have wanted for so long, we have committed to a long-term bus strategy.

[Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve rail connectivity in Burnley constituency.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Chris Heaton-Harris)]

Work is nearing completion to assess the potential role of a reopened Skipton to Colne rail line to deliver real benefits for passengers in east Lancashire, freight users and the local economy. That is to name but one scheme.

[Antony Higginbotham]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer and for yesterday’s announcement on Northern rail. The reopening of the Todmorden curve in 2015 had a hugely positive impact on my constituency, providing a direct train service to Manchester once an hour. What support can his Department give me as I look at a business case to increase the frequency of that service?

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is already proving that he is going to be a strong voice for Burnley in this place, making sure that Burnley will always be heard. The best thing is probably for he and I to meet in the short-term, because there are plenty of ways in which we can help develop transport for Burnley.