Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria she uses to assess bids under the Access for All scheme; and how stations can qualify for accessibility improvements.

As with all taxpayer funded programmes Access for All needs to demonstrate value for money.

The criteria used to assess nominations include station footfall, weighted by incidence of disability in the area, industry priorities, and the availability of third-party funding.  We also consider local factors, for example proximity to hospitals or stations with especially high numbers of interchange passengers. We also ensure that selected stations represent a fair geographical spread of projects across the national network.