Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review 2025 established allocations of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) up to financial year 2029-30. A profile of these agreed allocations is enclosed in the table below, reflecting the measures announced at Autumn Budget 2025:
£ billion (current prices) | Plans 2025-26 | Plans 2026-27 | Plans 2027-28 | Plans 2028-29 | Plans 2029-30 |
Capital DEL Expenditure | 21.6 | 23.0 | 24.8 | 22.7 | 24.4 |
Capital funding allocations in future years and how they are allocated (this includes any unallocated funds) are subject to departmental business planning processes. Furthermore, the department will provide more detail on future spending plans at the appropriate Supply Estimate.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects HS2 Limited to complete its review of the timetable for releasing land for redevelopment at the Washwood Heath rolling stock maintenance yard.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
HS2 Ltd is undertaking a sprint project that aims to identify and unlock opportunities for early release of land currently held for HS2 between London and Birmingham, around its stations and the Washwood Heath depot hub, to support both regeneration and economic growth. This work is part of – and its timing is therefore linked to – the reset of the HS2 programme, and is due to be completed in early 2026.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has asked HS2 Limited to make an assessment of the potential impact of the provision of funding for a railway station at East Birmingham on the regeneration of that area.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
HS2 Ltd has defined scope to deliver two HS2 stations in the West Midlands: Birmingham Curzon Street and Interchange. These stations will have a transformative economic impact on the wider city, including East Birmingham. There are no plans for an additional HS2 station in East Birmingham.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date bids for the next wave of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding should be submitted to her Department.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
At October Budget, the Government confirmed funding for the current City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme in 2025-26, including a £200m uplift. Further funding beyond 2025-26 is being considered as part of the multi-year Spending Review, which is expected to conclude in late Spring.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which spending programmes their Department devolves for administration to (a) local government in England and (b) other local spending bodies; and what the budget is of each such programme for each year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Government has set itself a mission that, by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal, with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution, with a simplified, long-term funding settlement. At Spring Budget, the Government announced the trailblazer devolution deals with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and West Midlands Combined Authorities (WMCA), which included a commitment to introduce single funding settlements at the next Spending Review for these MCAs. At Autumn Statement, the Government published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GMCA and WMCA, setting out how the single settlements will work. The Government also announced an ambitious new ‘level 4’ of the devolution framework, including a single transport funding settlement for eligible institutions, and a ‘consolidated’ pot at the next multi-year SR covering two DLUHC investment themes – local growth and place, and housing and regeneration. Following successful delivery of the ‘consolidated’ pot, and learning from the trailblazers, Level 4 institutions will then become eligible to receive a single settlement from the subsequent multi-year Spending Review.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for finalising the land requirement for the HS2 Washwood Heath rolling stock maintenance depot; and what recent estimate he has made of when land will be released for commercial redevelopment at the site.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Schedule 17 planning application for the Washwood Heath Depot has recently received consent from Birmingham City Council, which confirms the land required for the Depot. The design and extent of the environmental mitigation measures to the south of the depot are well underway, with a planning application likely to be submitted later this year. Once the extent of these measures are confirmed, the commercial development proposals can be matured.
The forecast timeline for the commercial development depends upon a number of factors as described above and may be subject to change. The land will be released once the depot site has been completed.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to strengthen the safety regulations on the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to create a Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle (LZEV) category that is independent of the cycle and motor vehicle categories. The first focus of this new system will be e-scooters, which we are looking to legalise for private and rental use through secondary legislation. This will require setting robust technical requirements and clear expectations on users. No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters, and we will consult before any new arrangements come into force.
From the start of 2020 to end June 2022, there have been a total of 17 fatalities in collisions involving e-scooters reported to the Department by police. Of these, 16 deaths were e-scooter users themselves. The STATS19 collection covers only collisions on the public highway.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities his Department has recorded relating to the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to create a Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle (LZEV) category that is independent of the cycle and motor vehicle categories. The first focus of this new system will be e-scooters, which we are looking to legalise for private and rental use through secondary legislation. This will require setting robust technical requirements and clear expectations on users. No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters, and we will consult before any new arrangements come into force.
From the start of 2020 to end June 2022, there have been a total of 17 fatalities in collisions involving e-scooters reported to the Department by police. Of these, 16 deaths were e-scooter users themselves. The STATS19 collection covers only collisions on the public highway.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
This funding will be published as part of the Supplementary Estimates later this year. The initial funding agreed has been incorporated with the Main Estimate Memorandum, which has been published at the estimate level. This can be found via the following link: Main Estimate 21-22 Memorandum (parliament.uk). The figures by individual scheme level will also be published in due course.