Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access at railway stations for disabled people in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government has made £350 million available to make accessibility improvements at a further 209 stations through the Access for All programme, including Kidsgrove. We also require the industry to comply with current accessibility standards whenever they install, replace or renew station infrastructure.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the condition of roads in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport is providing (a) Stoke-on-Trent with over £5.5 million and (b) Staffordshire with over £37 million through the Transport Infrastructure Investment Fund this financial year. It is for each Council to decide on how this funding is utilised based on their highway asset management strategy, needs, and priorities.
In addition, Stoke-on-Trent council were successful in their £5 million ‘Keep Stoke Moving’ key corridor Challenge Fund bid in February this year. In February Staffordshire County Council also successfully bid for £2.35 million to upgrade Chetwynd Bridge, a historic Grade II* structure.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve rail connections in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department is working to improve rail connections across the network including at Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire through both the HS2 and Midlands Connect schemes. Plans are being developed for the Midlands Engine between the Department for Transport and Midlands Connect, which include proposals to increase the frequency of trains between Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe.
Avanti West Coast currently run an hourly service calling at Stoke-on-Trent between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.
West Midlands Trains also run an hourly service between Birmingham New Street and Crewe, calling at Stafford, Stone and Stoke – on – Trent. From December 2020 the timetable will be uplifted so this service includes calls at Penkridge, meaning an extra hourly service at this station in addition to the calls made by the existing Birmingham New Street – Liverpool Lime Street service.
HS2 services are expected to serve Stoke-on-Trent once the railway is operational. No final decisions have been made on the exact HS2 train service, however, and the Department has appointed West Coast Partnership Development to analyse passenger demand on the route and present options for train service patterns that best allow this demand to be met with the available infrastructure. The Secretary of State will decide on the preferred option, once it has been subject to wider consultation, nearer to the time that HS2 opens.
In January 2020 the Secretary of State announced the £500 million Restoring Your Railway fund to deliver our manifesto commitment and start reopening lines and stations, reconnecting smaller communities. Meir station was successful in the first round of the Ideas Fund and is currently on track to progress to the next stage of the Restoring Your Railway process.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve disabled access at Kidsgrove Railway Station.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Construction of an accessible route, including a footbridge and three lifts at Kidsgrove station is due to begin next Spring and be completed by Autumn.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the adequacy of the level of funding for urban transport authorities.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 23 May, the Transport Secretary announced a further £283 million to help increase bus and light rail services across England as quickly as possible as we begin to re-open our economy. This is in addition to the £397 million the Government announced on 3 April 2020 to keep England’s buses running to serve those who need to rely on them.
The Government has agreed a £1.6 billion funding and financing support package for Transport for London to enable them to continue operating essential services, transporting passengers safely and protecting staff during the pandemic and supporting the capital’s gradual recovery from COVID-19.
The Department will continue to work with transport authorities to understand how public transport services can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the Covid-19 outbreak so that a sustainable long-term recovery can be made.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is investing?around?£2.5bn?,?with grants available for ultra-low emission vehicles, as well?as funding?to support charge point infrastructure at homes,?workplaces,?on residential streets?and across the wider roads network. The Government is consulting on bringing forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible, including hybrids for the first time. This will help inform our thinking on what further appropriate measures to achieve a faster transition will need to be. The Transport Secretary has also announced that the government will consult on measures to improve the consumer experience of using the public charging network so that charging an electric vehicle is as straightforward as refuelling a conventional vehicle today. Go Ultra Low is a joint Government and industry campaign designed to educate individuals and businesses about the benefits of switching to an electric vehicle. The campaign provides facts and information across high reach channels such as paid media (cinema, radio, digital), PR and events.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 (a) bus and (b) light rail services in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 23 May, the Government announced a further £283 million to help protect and increase bus and light rail services as we begin to restart our economy.
As part of the ‘Better Deal for Bus Users’ package £30 million of additional funding is also being provided to local authorities to improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed.
The Department will continue to work with both sectors to understand how services can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the Covid-19 outbreak so that a sustainable long-term recovery can be made.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to use new technological solutions to improve the running of the railways.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Research, development and innovation to improve the running of the railway is primarily the responsibility of the rail industry. The cross-industry Executive Technical Leadership Group is chaired by Network Rail, and owns the current Rail Technical Strategy, which sets out a vision for rail and how technology can help meet the objectives of cutting carbon, reducing cost, increasing capacity and improving the customer experience. The strategy is currently being revised.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to (a) Stoke-on-Trent City Council and (b) Staffordshire County Council to increase the availability of road space for cycling.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On the 29th May, indicative allocations to local authorities from the Emergency Active Travel Fund were published on gov.uk. The indicative allocation for Stoke-on-Trent City Council was £842,000 and for Staffordshire County Council £1,832,000. The Department will confirm allocations from tranche 1 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund as soon as possible, and will invite bids from authorities for tranche 2 of the fund shortly. Before receiving any funding, authorities must submit satisfactory plans to the Department, and the amount each authority receives will depend on it satisfying the Department that it has ambitious plans in place to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to enable (a) bus drivers and (b) lorry drivers to renew their expiring driving licences during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To keep bus and lorry drivers on the road, the Government has made temporary provisions to remove the requirement to submit a medical report when applying to renew a bus or lorry driving licence until further notice. Provided they have no notifiable medical conditions, drivers will be issued a licence that is valid for one year instead of the usual five. This only applies if the licence expired after 1 January 2020 or is due to expire.
As is always the case, drivers must ensure they are medically fit to drive and they are legally obliged to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of the onset or worsening of any medical condition.