Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the rejection of the proposal fort electrification of the Selby to Hull railway line on the Government's plan for a Northern Powerhouse.
Answered by Andrew Percy
This Government is committed to delivering the Northern Powerhouse; it remains central to our plans to build an economy that works for all. This is why in previous rounds of Local Growth Deals we have invested £2.8 billion in Northern Powerhouse regions. This includes £863.8 million for the Local Enterprise Partnerships that cover Hull and Selby as follows: £113.6 million for the Humber, £122.2 million for York, North Yorkshire and East Riding, and £628 million for Leeds City Region.
The train operators that serve Hull are planning to deliver a range of benefits for passengers: new rolling stock, faster journey times, and improvements to Hull station.
Due to bi-modal trains that will be built in the North East, these benefits can be delivered without the need for electrification. This will mean better journeys for passengers without having to wait for an electrified route and will avoid the inconvenience this would cause. A direct service to Hull on the Trans Pennine Express Network will remain in place.
The Arriva Rail North franchise, which started in April, has committed to upgrading the Hull-Doncaster-Sheffield route to a new high-quality ‘Northern Connect’ service. There will be new or refurbished trains on these longer-distance services, with faster journeys and stations staffed daily, with catering services and free Wi-Fi at each one.
Passengers travelling to Hull and to East Riding will benefit from other improvement including Virgin Trains East Coast running faster services when their new fleet of Azuma trains are introduced in 2018, taking up to 6-7 minutes off the route from London to Hull.
First Hull Trains recently announced a £60 million investment in five new AT300 bid-mode trains of five carriages each. These will take advantage of the existing electrified East Coast line and then continue on to Hull via Selby.
We are determined to strengthen transport links across Northern towns and cities, so that people have greater choice and flexibility over the places they choose to work and live.
We have created Transport for the North (TfN) to develop transport plans that drive economic growth. We have committed £50 million over this parliament and are working to put the organisation on a statutory footing, so that TfN can effectively deliver its objectives.
We are also investing £13 billion in transport in the North during this parliament, to take forward key projects in the Northern Powerhouse.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for the mandatory provision of accessible toilets by all public organisations and private businesses for their customers and service users.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Part M of the Building Regulations requires that reasonable provision is made for accessible toilets in buildings other than dwellings, where relevant types of building work are undertaken (typically the erection, extension or alteration of a building). Statutory guidance as to how that requirement can be met is contained in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings. Section 5 of the Approved Document provides detailed guidance on suitable toilet and sanitary accommodation. Government has no current plans to amend these requirements, but will keep guidance on toilet provision under review.
For existing public and commercial buildings, the Equality Act 2010 places duties on building owners, employers and business operators to put in place suitable management practices and to make reasonable adjustments to physical features of buildings in order to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a disadvantage when compared to a non-disabled person. This includes consideration of the nature and availability of toilet provision.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to encourage business owners to provide accessible toilets for customers.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Persons carrying out building work to non domestic buildings need to comply with the requirements of Part M (Access to and use of buildings) of the Building Regulations. Statutory guidance on how to comply with these requirements is set out in Approved Document M and contains detailed guidance on accessible toilet and sanitary provision in buildings other than dwellings.
The Government also continues to support the provision of “Changing Places Toilets” which provide facilities for severely disabled people, most recently by funding the development of a website which provides detailed guidance on the location of and facilities contained in “Changing Places” toilets facilities.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received about the Local Welfare Provision fund from (a) local authorities and (b) relevant third sector organisations.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The consultation on how local welfare provision should be funded in 2015/16 closed on 21 November. The Government are analysing the responses, alongside the recently published review by the Department for Work and Pensions into existing provision. The Government will make a decision based on this analysis in time for the provisional local government finance settlement in December 2014.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his future policy is on the Local Welfare Assistance Fund.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The consultation on how local welfare provision should be funded in 2015/16 closed on 21 November. The Government are analysing the responses, alongside the recently published review by the Department for Work and Pensions into existing provision. The Government will make a decision based on this analysis in time for the provisional local government finance settlement in December 2014.