Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from Calderdale Council on the construction of a new rail station at Hipperholme.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are aware of aspirations for a new station at Hipperholme but have not received any representations about it from Calderdale Council. The promotion of any new station is a matter for the relevant local transport authority, in this case West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for a driving test appointment (a) in England, (b) at the Halifax test centre and (c) at the Huddersfield test centre.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The average waits for a practical car driving test appointment in (a) England and (b) at Halifax test centre and (c) at Huddersfield test centre are as follows:
England – 12 weeks
Halifax driving test centre – 18 weeks
Huddersfield driving test centre – 17 weeks
The main cause of current high practical driving test waiting times across the country is a significant and sustained surge in demand for driving tests. The last time there was demand at such high levels was in 2005/6.
To help address the demand, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) 2015/16 recruitment campaigns resulted in 193 new examiners starting work at test centres across Britain. A further 48 examiners have started testing since April 2016, and DVSA has made employment offers to an additional 110 people, who are currently either attending the new entrant training course, or waiting to attend one.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) also deploys driving examiners between test centres accordingly to help balance variations in demand for tests. Resources have been pooled between Huddersfield, Halifax, Steeton and Skipton, and the DVSA is currently using resource from Huddersfield and Halifax to help service demand at Steeton and Skipton.. There are five new entrant examiners currently attending training who, if successful, will be deployed into Steeton and Skipton. This will have the knock on effect of helping to reduce waiting times at both the Halifax and Huddersfield test centres.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place as part of the rail franchise package for the Calder Valley rail line to improve rolling stock on that line.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The new Northern franchise will introduce at least 140 additional new DMU vehicles by the start of 2020. The new trains will be capable of operating at 100mph, be fitted with CCTV, fully air conditioned and have Wi-Fi fitted. These trains will operate on Northern Connect services including those on the Calder Valley route. In addition, over 600 existing vehicles will be fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Since the publication of the March 2015 Northern Transport Strategy, the Government and Transport for the North have been taking forward a programme of work on an ambitious Northern Powerhouse Rail vision. Parallel work is also taking place to understand the capability of the North’s road network.
Detailed analysis has not yet been carried out on the potential benefits of high speed rail links between particular locations across the Pennines. However the recent Budget allocated £60million to help develop the options for a High Speed 3 route between Leeds and Manchester.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway between junctions 20 and 25.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The recent Budget announced that funding had been brought forward to enable Highways England to accelerate the smart motorway investment for the M62 Junction 10 to 12 scheme by two years, and to accelerate delivery of the M62 Junction 20 to 25 smart motorway.
Design development work on these schemes is at the very earliest stage, and as such the analysis of the full economic potential of this investment is still being developed as part of the business case.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many casualties were recorded in road traffic accidents in (a) Calder Valley constituency and (b) West Yorkshire in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The number of casualties in road traffic accidents reported to the police in (a) Calder Valley constituency and (b) West Yorkshire in each year of 2010 to 2014 are:
Year | Killed | Seriously injured | Slightly injured | Total casualties |
Calder Valley constituency | ||||
2010 | 3 | 35 | 296 | 334 |
2011 | 3 | 55 | 292 | 350 |
2012 | 1 | 56 | 264 | 321 |
2013 | 2 | 40 | 219 | 261 |
2014 | 4 | 53 | 241 | 298 |
West Yorkshire | ||||
2010 | 58 | 836 | 7,456 | 8,350 |
2011 | 65 | 839 | 6,881 | 7,785 |
2012 | 49 | 885 | 6,913 | 7,847 |
2013 | 55 | 809 | 5,939 | 6,803 |
2014 | 58 | 867 | 6,013 | 6,938 |
Statistics for 2015 will be available in June 2016.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to investigate the effectiveness of 20mph zones in local authorities which have implemented them.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Research into pilot 20mph speed limits, with little or no traffic calming, in Portsmouth and Bristol published in 2010 and 2012 showed small reductions in average speeds. The Portsmouth scheme also saw a reduction in casualties greater than the equivalent national reduction.
Reviews of 20 mph zones in 1996 and 1998 by the Transport Research Laboratory found that zones, which incorporate traffic calming, achieved significant reductions in speeds and annual accident frequency. Reductions in speeds were minimal without traffic calming.
The Department for Transport has commissioned new work into the effects of 20mph limits including effects on speed, collisions, casualties and modal shift. The research also considers best practice, road users’ perceptions and environmental quality.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on establishing 20mph zones.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport has provided a wide range of guidance for local authorities on establishing 20 mph zones. Local Transport Note 1/07 ‘Traffic Calming’ sets out design guidance on 20 mph zones, summarising the advice provided in earlier Traffic Advisory Leaflets, whilst guidance on signing is provided in the Traffic Signs Manual Chapter 3 and the Area-wide Authorisations and Special Directions Guidance Note. Advice on setting speed limits is provided in Department for Transport Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’. All of these documents are available on the Department’s website.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of rural bus services in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Decisions about the provision of bus services requiring local government subsidy are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The majority of public funding for local bus services is via block grant provided to local authorities in England from the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, my Department also provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities to help deliver bus services, of which over £2 million goes to West Yorkshire.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits to Todmorden and Hebden Bridge following the planned improvements to the railway stations in both towns as part of the new Northern rail franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Calder Valley route between Manchester and Bradford will see more trains and faster journeys, with the weekday service frequency between Bradford and Manchester being enhanced by 50% (from two to three trains per hour), a significant increase in evening services, a doubling of Sunday service frequency from one to two trains per hour, and new direct links from Bradford to Manchester Airport and from Bradford to Liverpool.
These enhancements will bring benefits to Calder Valley towns such as Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. Taking these improvements alongside other existing services, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden will each be served by a total of four trains per hour for the main part of the day (Monday to Saturday) and three trains per hour (Sundays). In addition, both Hebden Bridge and Todmorden will also become “Northern Connect” stations, benefiting from new or refurbished trains on longer-distance services, faster journeys and stations staffed daily with catering services and free Wi-Fi.
Add this to the withdrawal of all Pacers by the end of 2019, an investment of £400 million in 281 brand newcarriages (some of which will operate on the existing Blackpool-York services and the new Bradford-Manchester Airport and Bradford-Liverpool services), and the refurbishment of the rest of the Northern fleet, we expect these enhancements to result in very substantial economic benefits for the area.