Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people aged 16 to 18 years old who will benefit from the proposed introduction of a new discount railcard for that age group in (a) Mansfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) the East Midlands.
Answered by Andrew Jones
All young people aged 16 – 17 are eligible to benefit from the card in these regions, and market research indicates that approximately 2/3 of young people may take advantage in the East Midlands region.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps (a) his Department and (b) agencies of his Department have taken to support the National Pollinator Strategy on (i) roads (ii) railway lines.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Highways England recognise the critical role of pollinators and support the National Pollinator Strategy through their Biodiversity Plan. Highways England’s delivery of 3500 hectares of wildflower rich grassland is in progress and will support a wide range of pollinating insects.
Further details of how Highways England will support the National Pollinator Strategy are available on:
Network Rail has been working on a range of initiatives across the country aimed at protecting pollinators, such as the Green Transport Corridors Project in Cumbria and South Yorkshire, where locations were identified for pollinator habitat creation and enhancement.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Nottingham City Council has been awarded £6m under the Government’s Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme to deliver a range of initiatives in Nottingham and Derby to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, including deploying 35 rapid and 195 fast charging units at key locations across the cities. The Council has also been awarded £700k under the Ultra-low Emission Taxi Infrastructure Scheme, to deliver 20 rapid chargepoints and 12 fast chargepoints dedicated to taxis and private hire vehicles.
The Government has various UK-wide support schemes in place to assist with the cost of installing chargepoints in motorists’ homes, on residential streets, in workplaces, car parks and the wider public estate. The workplace scheme has provided funding for 59 chargepoints in the wider Nottingham area.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated to (a) Mansfield and (b) Nottinghamshire from the Pothole Action Fund in each year since that fund's inception.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Nottinghamshire County Council, as local highway authority, is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the local road network, including for the Mansfield constituency.
The funding allocated to Nottinghamshire County Council by the Department for Transport from the Pothole Action Fund, since its inception, is shown in the table below.
Year | Pothole Action Fund £m |
2016/17 | 0.839 |
2017/18 | 1.989 |
2018/19 | 0.839 |
Total | 3.667 |
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps (a) his Department and (b) agencies of his Department have taken to support the National Pollinator Strategy on (i) roads (ii) railway lines.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Highways England Biodiversity Plan (2015-2020) includes support for the National Pollinator Strategy. This covers such things as the creation and restoration of species-rich grasslands, both on the green verges of the Strategic Road Network and as part of the construction of new schemes.
Network Rail is exploring opportunities to create new pollinator habitats across its estate. A range of initiatives are aimed at protecting pollinators, such as the Green Transport Corridors Project in Cumbria and South Yorkshire
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to Nottinghamshire for the (a) repair of and (b) prevention of potholes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is providing Nottinghamshire County Council, as a local highway authority, with £96.857 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £3.667 million from the Pothole Action Fund, to repair potholes or to stop them forming in the first place.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of rail services in the East Midlands.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government is committed to improving journeys for passengers in the East Midlands, which is why we are delivering the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line route since it was completed in 1870. Passengers will see modern trains introduced across the route during the next East Midlands franchise, including a fleet of brand new bi-mode intercity trains. The upgrade will enable increased passenger capacity and improved journey times, thereby improving the overall experience for passengers.
In an extensive public consultation last summer we sought views on the future of East Midlands rail services to ensure the new franchise delivers the best railway for passengers, communities and businesses, including how local train services can be improved to meet current and future needs more effectively.
The consultation closed on 11 October 2017. All options for rail services in the next franchise are subject to analysis of the potential benefits and the responses we received to the consultation. No decisions have yet been made on the rail services that will be specified. Any outcome will seek to secure the best value for money for the taxpayer and be in the best interests of rail passengers.
The next East Midlands franchise is planned to start in August 2019. Invitations to Tender (ITT) are due to be issued to potential bidders shortly. The ITT will set out the minimum requirements and provide the baseline that we expect the next franchise to build on.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve bus services in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. We are working with local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.
In particular, new Enhanced Partnership and Advanced Quality Partnership powers provide the framework for authorities to work side by side with operators to set a shared vision for bus services in their area.
Bus Open Data powers will require bus operators in England to open up route and timetable, fares and tickets and real time information for passengers by 2020. These improvements aim to remove uncertainty in bus journeys, improve journey planning and help passengers secure best value tickets.
Accessible Information powers will require all operators of local bus services to provide audio and visual route and next stop announcements on board buses across Great Britain, helping to remove barriers to bus travel particularly for those with disabilities or accessibility needs.
The Government also continues to invest in public transport. City regions in the East Midlands and Nottinghamshire with workday populations above around 200,000 people are eligible to submit proposals for a share of the remaining £840m from the Transforming Cities Fund to improve public transport in their cities.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to support UK small and medium-sized businesses in procurement competitions to supply (a) goods and (b) services for the construction of High Speed 2.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
HS2’s procurement processes have been designed in order to open up opportunities for the wider UK supply chain (including small and medium sized enterprises). Contractors delivering major contracts will support annual ‘meet the contractor’ events. Primary (Tier 1) contractors and their sub-contractors will be required to advertise all sub-contract opportunities using the free access CompeteFor web-sourcing portal. HS2 Ltd. has also conducted extensive market engagement to enable businesses to ready themselves for HS2 opportunities.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential opportunities High Speed 2 provides to members of the UK railway supply chain to increase their international export profile.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We want to ensure that HS2 leaves a legacy of exportable capabilities. Procurement processes have been designed in order to open up opportunities for the wider UK supply chain – the approach seeks to ensure that members of the UK railway supply chain have the opportunity to bid for and, potentially, win HS2 sub-contracts. We are, in turn, working with industry on how to support the supply chain involved in delivering HS2 to generate exports.