Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional funding she plans to provide to local authorities in rural areas for road repairs.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government takes the condition of our country’s roads very seriously and is committed to supporting both rural and urban authorities in maintaining and renewing their highway networks. We have announced a £500 million highway maintenance funding uplift for the 2025/26 financial year, which will allow local highway authorities across England to do the equivalent of fixing an additional seven million potholes.
Funding for local highway maintenance is based on the assets for which local highway authorities are responsible. The Department allocates capital funding based on a formula that includes the length of roads each authority is responsible for as well as the number of structures they are required to maintain. Rural authorities are generally responsible for more miles of roads than urban authorities, and this is reflected in their funding allocations.
Herefordshire County Council is the local highway authority responsible for the condition and maintenance of roads in the North Herefordshire constituency, and the Department for Transport has allocated it £22.9 million to help it carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities in 2025/26. This is £6.1 million more than in the current financial year, or an increase of around 37%. It is Herefordshire County Council’s responsibility to decide how that funding is used, based on local needs and priorities.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the frequency and reliability of rail services to stations in Herefordshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department works with all its Train Operating Companies on the frequency and reliability of services, including those in Herefordshire, where it also liaises with Transport for Wales on its services through the county. We are aware that West Midlands Trains (WMT) services to Birmingham have suffered reliability issues and shorter trains in recent months, and WMT is implementing a focused set of initiatives to mitigate this.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her predecessor's oral contribution of 18 November 2024, Official Report, column 49, when she plans to make a decision on concessionary bus travel for young people; and what criteria she plans to use.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bus services are predominantly run on a commercial basis, where private operators decide on the level at which fares are set. Many bus operators offer reduced fares for young people, and the Department for Transport’s latest concessionary travel statistics show that in the year ending March 2025, youth concessions are offered by at least one commercial bus operator in 73 out of 85 local authority areas in England outside London.
Local authorities can also introduce fares initiatives in their local areas. The government has allocated £712 million to local authorities to support and improve bus services in 2025/26 including Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Bus Service Operators Grant funding. BSIP funding can be used in whichever way local authorities wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing fares initiatives for young people.
The government is exploring options for targeted fares measures that deliver value for money to the taxpayer, to ensure affordable bus travel is always available for the groups who need it most – such as young people.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to (a) ensure that all rail stations are fully accessible and (b) implement step-free access to both platforms at Ledbury station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.