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 - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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
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
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
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.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of implementing a requirement that UK-based suppliers are formally considered in the procurement of all (a) systems and (b) sub-systems required for the delivery of High Speed 2 Phase 1.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Procurements for HS2 are undertaken in accordance with the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 that transpose EU Directives on procurement into UK law and reflect the EU procurement principles of transparency, non-discrimination, equal treatment and proportionality. Accordingly, UK based and non-UK based bidders for HS2 contracts will be treated equally.
Nevertheless, HS2’s procurement approach seeks to ensure that UK-based suppliers have the opportunity to bid for and, potentially, win HS2 contracts and sub-contracts. 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.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) funding and (b) other support his Department makes available for improving major road junctions.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has made £12bn of funding available through the Local Growth Fund in the current Spending Review period which can be used to improve roads, including major road junctions.
Local Authorities have also had the opportunity to bid for individual large schemes to be funded through the Large Local Major scheme competition.
Additional funding will be made available from the National Road Fund to fund schemes on the Strategic Road Network and Major Road Network.
The Government is also investing over £15 billion in the Strategic Road Network to improve road and junction capacity.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the public consultation on the future of East Midlands rail franchise.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The consultation into the next East Midlands rail franchise ran from 20 July and 11 October 2017 and received over 2,300 responses. In due course the Secretary of State will publish a Stakeholder Briefing Document alongside the ITT for the competition. This will explain how the Department has considered the comments and suggestions made, and explored how these opportunities could be incorporated into the East Midlands franchise specification.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided to support transport projects in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Nottinghamshire in the last three years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In the East Midlands, over £3.2 billion of public money has been spent on transport in the last three years, improving connectivity, shortening journey times, reducing congestion, and transporting people, ideas and goods.
Figures are not available at the level of individual counties. However, in Nottinghamshire, recent Government investment includes £371m towards extensions to the Nottingham tram system, £8.5m towards the Hucknall Town Centre Improvement Scheme, and £5m towards maintenance on the A38 and A617 Mansfield Regeneration Route.