Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding he plans to allocate to the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board in each of the next five years.

The Department for Transport has met with the Light Rail Standards and Safety Board to discuss their work programme following the Rail Investigation Accident Board report into the Sandilands tram accident. This included a discussion at the UK Tram annual conference in September last year.

The Department has provided over £1.8 million to help the Board take forward safety of light rail systems and is shortly to provide a further £1.5 million in this regard. Further funding for future years will be determined following the next Spending Review. It is also expected the sector provide funding in parallel to ensure the safety of the systems they operate.