Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cessations of bus services (a) his Department and (b) Traffic Commissioners were notified of in 2018-19; and where in the UK those cessations were.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Changes to bus services are notified to the Traffic Commissioners.
The Traffic Commissioners Annual Report for 2018-19 is due to be published in the Autumn. The latest published data from the Traffic Commissioners with regards the number of cancelled registrations can be found:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-commissioners-annual-report-2017-to-2018
The numbers of cancelled registrations will not be the same as the number of cessations of bus services: a registration that is cancelled may be complemented by a new service introduction that is an exact match or a slight variation to the one which has been cancelled.
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cessations of bus services his Department or Traffic Commissioners were notified of in 2017-18; and where in the UK those cessations have been.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The number of cancelled bus services in 2017-18 in Great Britain (outside of London), by region, registered with the Traffic Commissioners, can be found in the Traffic Commissioners annual report 2017/18 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/768769/201718_TC_annual_report.pdf
The figures relate only to the local bus service registered with a Traffic Commissioner in Great Britain. They do not include those services registered with Transport for London or those in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
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 transport infrastructure projects in each region of England in each of the past three years; and what estimate he has made of that funding per head of population in those regions.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics.
The latest CRA statistics, published by HM Treasury in November 2017, present data up to 2016-17 and are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis.
The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government Departments including devolved administrations.
When assessing expenditure across regions it is important to compare like with like. The benefits from spend on transport interventions often accrue to people far beyond the residents of the immediate local area or region. This is particularly the case for spending on the railways which connect cities and regions across the country and deliver broader benefits beyond the region concerned. Furthermore, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population”(or “per capita”) basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, though these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs.
Statistics for public sector capital expenditure by region are given in Table 1 below. Table 2 provides the equivalent statistics per capita. Capital expenditure has been used as a proxy for spending on infrastructure specifically.
Table 1: Capital spending on all transport, by all public sector bodies
£millions nominal
Region | 2014-15 | 2015-161 | 2016-17 |
England - East | 1,176 | 1,404 | 1,450 |
England - East Midlands | 749 | 799 | 666 |
England - London | 4,550 | 5,247 | 6,082 |
England - North East | 417 | 474 | 520 |
England - North West | 1,358 | 1,891 | 1,775 |
England - South East | 1,571 | 2,002 | 2,211 |
England - South West | 802 | 1,008 | 1,165 |
England - West Midlands | 1,080 | 1,333 | 1,260 |
England - Yorkshire and Humber | 1,085 | 1,297 | 1,092 |
England | 12,787 | 15,455 | 16,221 |
1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2017
Table 2: Capital spending, on all transport, by all public sector bodies, per capita
£s nominal
Region | 2014-15 | 2015-161 | 2016-17 |
England - East | 195 | 231 | 236 |
England - East Midlands | 161 | 171 | 141 |
England - London | 533 | 605 | 693 |
England - North East | 159 | 181 | 197 |
England - North West | 190 | 264 | 246 |
England - South East | 177 | 224 | 245 |
England - South West | 148 | 184 | 211 |
England - West Midlands | 189 | 232 | 217 |
England - Yorkshire and Humber | 202 | 241 | 201 |
England | 235 | 282 | 293 |
1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2017
For future years, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline (NCIP) 2017 shows regional transport spend. Analysis of the NCIP shows that central government transport investment is more balanced across regions than previous reports have suggested. The table below sets out the allocation of central government transport capital spending in the pipeline between 2017/18 and 2020/21, per head and across regions [1]
Region | Investment per capita £ (2016/17 prices) |
East of England | 994 |
East Midlands | 946 |
London[1] | 1,026 |
North East | 822 |
North West | 1,353 |
South East | 1,139 |
South West | 851 |
West Midlands | 1,269 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 726 |
[1] As this table only looks at transport capital spending funded by central government, TfL expenditure is excluded. TfL’s capital programme is funded by a mixture of locally-retained business rates and fare receipts from TfL-operated services, and from 2017/18 onwards it receives no direct central government funding. However, DfT does directly fund major transport projects across London, such as Crossrail, and Thameslink
[1] As this table only looks at transport capital spending funded by central government, TfL expenditure is excluded. TfL’s capital programme is funded by a mixture of locally-retained business rates and fare receipts from TfL-operated services, and from 2017/18 onwards it receives no direct central government funding. However, DfT does directly fund major transport projects across London, such as Crossrail, and Thameslink
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cessations of bus services his Department or Traffic Commissioners have been notified of in each of the last five ears, and where in the UK these these been.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The table below shows cancelled bus services in Great Britain (outside of London), registered with the traffic commissioners.
Cancelled local bus service registrations by Traffic Area
| 2016-17 | 2015-16 | 2014-15 | 2013-14 | 2012-13 |
Eastern | 480 | 412 | 525 | 480 | 476 |
North Eastern | 639 | 511 | 711 | 639 | 719 |
North Western | 683 | 684 | 644 | 683 | 736 |
South Eastern and Metropolitan | 172 | 127 | 171 | 172 | 223 |
West Midlands | 320 | 225 | 316 | 320 | 346 |
Western | 395 | 380 | 474 | 395 | 362 |
Scotland | 466 | 464 | 451 | 466 | 614 |
Wales | 143 | 322 | 193 | 143 | 300 |
Total (excl London and N Ireland) | 3,298 | 3,125 | 3,485 | 3,298 | 3,776 |
Source: Traffic Commissioner Annual Reports
These figures relate only to the local bus service registered with a traffic commissioner in Great Britain. They do not include those services registered with Transport for London or those in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of trends in the (a) frequency and (b) price of bus services serving Ashfield constituency in the last five years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Department does not hold any data on the frequency or price of bus services serving Ashfield constituency.
The bus market outside of London is deregulated. Bus operators have to register services and notify changes or cessations of service to local authorities and the traffic commissioners around 70 days before changes take effect.
Government (either central or local) only has powers to intervene in relation to bus fares through concessionary travel schemes. Central Government funds the statutory national concession for older and disabled people and local Government can offer additional concessions if they choose (e.g. for young people), by doing commercial deals with operators.
As part of the Bus Services Act (2017), the Department for Transport is developing regulations to require bus operators and local transport authorities to provide data, in open formats, about local bus services including routes & timetable data, fares & ticket data and real time information. We are working closely with industry to develop the regulations and it is intended the requirements will be phased in over the next few years.
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the rate of car ownership is in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department does not hold information on the rate of car ownership in Ashfield constituency, Nottinghamshire and England.
The Department does hold information on the number of registered vehicles. The number of licensed cars as at 30 September 2017 in (a) Ashfield constituency was 50,452 in (b) Nottinghamshire was 407,019 and in (c) England was 26,687,596. These figures include cars that are registered to private individuals and companies.
Asked by: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to reply to my letter of 14 September 2017 on the rail service on the Robin Hood Line in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Paul Maynard
A reply to the honourable member’s letter of 14 September 2017 about improvements to the rail service on the Robin Hood Line was sent on 19 October 2017.