Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Q9 of the oral evidence given by the Chair of Shadow Great British Railways to the Transport Select Committee on 22 January 2025, HC 554, when her Department expects to publish Shadow Great British Railways' delivery plan.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Officials are working with Shadow Great British Railways to set out and agree what their organisations will deliver both individually and collectively to make a difference for rail customers ahead of the creation of Great British Railways. The Department intends to publish these plans in the Spring.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Q16 of the oral evidence given by the Chair of Shadow Great British Railways to the Transport Select Committee on 22 January 2025, HC 554, how many people work in GBRX/Great British Railways Innovation (a) by headcount and (b) on a full-time equivalent basis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
GBRX at present has a core team of 10 people, all of whom are full time.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress her Department has made on the preparation of a third cycling and walking investment strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s officials are scoping out options for the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, and the Department will say more on this in due course. The Department will also consult stakeholders before the publication of the Strategy, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act, and will report to Parliament later this year on the delivery of the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the net cost to the public purse was of Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 compensation to operators for disruption on the rail network in 2023-24.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 compensation transactions are primarily between bodies whose costs and revenues are included in the Department for Transport’s group budgets, therefore these have no net cost to the exchequer.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what payments her Department has made to Birmingham City Council in support of the Birmingham roads PFI contract in each financial year from 2020-21 to 2024-25; and what was the total value of payments to the primary contractor under that contract in each of those years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has paid Birmingham City Council (BCC) a little over £50 million a year, broken down into quarterly payments of £12.6 million, from 2020-21 to 2024-25 in support of its PFI contract for its local highways. Payments from the council to its primary contractor are a matter for BCC.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Q44 of the oral evidence given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the Transport Select Committee on 4 December 2024, HC 437, what the average waiting time for driving tests is in Birmingham Northfield constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average car practical test waiting time for Driving Test Centres that serve the Birmingham Northfield constituency can be found in the table below:
Driving test centre | Average car practical driving test waiting time (Nov 2024) |
Kingsheath | 24 weeks |
Shirley | 22.8 weeks |
The average waiting time for Vocational tests 3a and 3b, for Garretts Green test centre which serves the Birmingham Northfield constituency, can be found in the table below:
Type of Vocational test | Average test waiting time (Nov 2024) |
Vocational 3a | 6.5 |
Vocational 3b | 2.8 |
With regards to part 2 and 3 approved driving instructor tests, these types of tests are not booked the same way as other types of tests, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is not able to record how long waiting times are at any given test centre.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 02 December to Question 15995, on Kings Norton Station, whether that £123m to design the first phase of the Midlands Rail Hub programme included any capital funding for (a) the reinstatement of the island platforms at Kings Norton Station and (b) track works for the purpose of extending Camp Hill services to Kings Norton station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The funding for Midlands Rail Hub includes designs for the reinstatement of the island platforms at Kings Norton, which, subject to a future ‘Decision to Deliver’, could be constructed by the early 2030s. Camp Hill line trains will serve Kings Norton from their introduction, currently scheduled for late-2025.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 120 of Network Rail North West and Central's publication entitled West Midlands Strategic Advice, published in October 2022, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposed (a) Longbridge Interchange project and (b) extension of Camp Hill services to Longbridge railway station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government funds rail upgrades through the 'Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline'. Network Rail, or a third party, such as Midlands Connect or West Midlands Rail Executive, can bring forward proposals and make the case for development funding through this process, and schemes are assessed on alignment with the Government's priorities, value for money, and affordability.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether capital funding was allocated to restore disused platforms at Kings Norton railway station before 4 July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Proposals to bring the island platforms at Kings Norton station back into use are part of the Midlands Rail Hub programme. In March this year £123m was allocated to design the first phase, which includes Kings Norton.
However, the Chancellor has been clear about the state of the nation's finances and launched a multi-year Spending Review. This includes a thorough review of plans to ensure our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 15053 on Roads: Suicide, if she will publish the operational data with a description of the data quality issues for each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways understand that suicide is not inevitable, it is preventable, with the vision that no one attempts to take their life on our roads. National Highways uses its Post Collision Fatal Reporting (PCFR) process to internally report fatal incidents, including suspected suicides on the Strategic Road Network. However, unless a coroner rules National Highways does not know if these numbers are correct and the coronial process can take many months to complete. National Highways therefore cannot be confident that every suspected suicide recorded was a confirmed suicide. Unvalidated operational data from PCFR covering the period of 2016 – 2024 is as follows:
Year | Number of Suspected Suicides | Comments |
2016 | 15 | From May onwards |
2017 | 31 | |
2018 | 41 | |
2019 | 40 | |
2020 | 39 | |
2021 | 59 | |
2022 | 59 | |
2023 | 59 | |
2024 | 56 | Up to November 28th |