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Written Question
Midland Main Line: Electrification
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the likely completion date of the electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Recent plans from Network Rail indicate that electrification of the Midland Main Line route to Sheffield and Nottingham could be completed in the early 2030s, subject to the necessary business case approvals.


Written Question
Railways: North of England
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's timescales are for the introduction of a third fast train each hour between Sheffield and Manchester.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to upgrading the Hope Valley line which would help enable a third fast train between Manchester and Sheffield. The industry is in the early stages of planning next steps including delivery dates. The plan builds on the ongoing upgrades to the line due to complete this Spring which will deliver performance and capacity improvements for passengers and freight.


Written Question
Midland Main Line: Rolling Stock
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the planned new rolling stock for the midland mainline to be available.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Good progress is being made by East Midlands Railway (EMR) on the introduction of their new Class 810 ‘Aurora’ fleet with the first unit now going through testing.

EMR are meeting with the manufacturer, Hitachi, this month to discuss the delivery timescales of the programme after which a firm timeline for passenger service introduction is expected.


Written Question
Transpennine Express Rail Franchise
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of carriages on the TransPennine express service which will be scrapped by April 2024.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department is not aware of any plans by rolling stock owners to scrap carriages currently on lease to TransPennine Trains. The operator plans to return 66 Mark 5A carriages, which are currently surplus to requirements, to their owner Beacon Rail Leasing.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Local Government Finance
Monday 25th October 2021

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many funds are allocated to local authorities by his Department through a process of competitive bidding; and if he will publish the names of those funds.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Department for Transport publishes data on government grants spending annually including, grants provided to Local Authorities. The most recent grants data relating to the financial year 2019/20 can be found at DfT 19/20 Grant data . Details of grant schemes and individual awards are published online.

In 2019/20 Local Authorities received funding from ten grant schemes via a competitive bidding process. These are set out below:

• Safer Roads

• Access Fund

• Local Growth Fund

• Large Local Majors

• Local Resilience Forums

• City Scheme

• Low Emission Taxi

• Low Emission Bus

• Opening LA transport data

• Transforming Cities Fund

The Department is currently reviewing its grant data for 2020/21 and will be published by the Cabinet Office in March 22.


Written Question
Driving Tests
Monday 25th January 2021

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value of introducing priority driving tests for key workers, so that people entering frontline roles are not delayed by the existing DVSA backlog of assessments.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

To help stop the spread of coronavirus, routine driving tests have been suspended in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will respond to requests for driving tests from organisations on behalf of frontline mobile emergency workers, who require a driving licence to carry out duties in their employment role. This is a limited service subject to examiner resource and is restricted to candidates working in health and social care, and public bodies providing a service in the national interest. The DVSA will contact eligible organisations to explain how to nominate candidates; candidates cannot apply themselves.

Approved driving instructors and trainers can return to work only for the purpose of supporting a mobile emergency worker with a booked test.


Written Question
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation: Hydrogen
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to amend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) to promote private investment in green hydrogen production facilities at sites not directly adjacent to renewable energy production sites.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The Department has been considering with industry experts how to enable the more cost-effective development of new electrolysis facilities by allowing them to be located more closely with demand, rather than having to be limited to being built adjacent to renewable energy production sites. We plan to consult on potential changes to the RTFO scheme later this year; this will include proposals on how renewable hydrogen can be further supported.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Railway Line
Friday 16th October 2020

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the implications are for the construction timetable of the HS2 eastern leg following his announcement to defer decisions on that leg until the completion of the Integrated Rail Plan.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to taking forward HS2 to transform our national rail network, bring our biggest cities closer together and level up opportunity across the country. On the Eastern Leg we have time to consider the best approach to get the most benefit for the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the North East, and want to ensure that this is well integrated with plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail and similar rail projects to get the best out of the significant investment in rail. The Integrated Rail Plan will confirm the form, scope and phasing of the HS2 Eastern Leg, and will be published later this year.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Thursday 9th July 2020

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which body is responsible for enforcing the wearing of face masks on buses; and what powers of enforcement that body has.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

We have worked with the police, operators, and trade unions to agree a six-stage approach to ensuring compliance. Operators will be responsible for the first five stages (Engage, Explain, Encourage, Enable use, and Entry/Exit restrictions). Enforcement by the police or TfL authorised personnel will be the last resort if a passenger fails to comply at other stages.

Our initial approach to enforcement has been to focus on communications to encourage compliance. Operators (and the police) have new powers to deny access to a service, to direct someone to wear a face covering, or direct someone to leave a service if they are not wearing a face covering. Operators have discretion over whether they choose to use these powers; they do not have an obligation to do so.

If passengers fail to comply, as a last resort the Police and TfL authorised personnel have a power to issue a fixed penalty notice of £100 under the PHA Regulations, reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. The police also have the power to remove passengers from vehicles and use reasonable for if necessary to do so, as well as the power to direct an individual who has responsibility for a child aged 11 or over to ensure that the child complies with the regulations.


Written Question
Public Transport: Coronavirus
Thursday 9th July 2020

Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to issue badges or passes to people who have received a letter from the NHS exempting them from wearing a face mask on public transport.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

We do not plan to issue badges or passes to show that people are exempt from the requirement to wear a face covering on public transport in England.

Several operators have badge or lanyard schemes in place that can help people communicate that they are exempt. These are intended to be tools to give people more confidence when engaging with transport staff. However, badges or similar are not obligatory and it is sufficient for people to communicate with transport operator staff that they are exempt. We have been working closely with operators to make sure they are communicating this approach to their passengers and staff (Guidance can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators#face-coverings).