Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria her Department is using to decide which coastal ports or dry docks will receive UK SHORE funding.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK SHORE programme in the Department for Transport will primarily allocate funding through open competitions, delivered by Innovate UK. Competition scopes and assessment criteria will be published alongside competition announcements between 2026 and 2030.
We are committed to supporting projects across the UK. UK SHORE has previously allocated £240m for clean maritime. This has supported organisations in all UK nations and regions, including around £30m allocated to projects in the North West.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of airspace modernisation in the north of England.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government remains firmly committed to delivering the benefits of airspace modernisation. The Department for Transport is working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), NATS, and the airports across the north of England to develop a robust and credible plan to implement airspace change in the region. Progress is encouraging, and the airports involved are shortly expected to move forward to public consultation on their plans as the next stage of the CAA’s airspace change process.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June 2025, on North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential, targeting government investment towards eight-growth driving sectors (IS-8). There are clusters of the IS-8 sectors across the whole country, and the policy package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by businesses in these sectors.
The West of England Combined Authority will receive targeted interventions to support sectors in the area including devolved funding from the Creative Places Growth Fund, £0.8bn Transport for City Regions funding, and dedicated support from a British Business Bank Cluster Champion.
To ensure robust and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the Industrial Strategy, we have chosen six economic indicators that reflect a range of desirable objectives for the IS-8 and the economy as a whole, which will be tracked at the economy-wide, sector and place level. Monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy will be overseen by the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council who will take a data-led approach.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to (a) support bus services in (i) North East Hampshire constituency and (ii) other rural areas and b) reinstate bus routes that have been cancelled.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important, reliable and affordable bus services are enabling people to access education, work and vital services. The Government is committed to delivering better bus services across the country, including North East Hampshire and rural areas right across England.
The government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December as part of our ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill will put passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 2025/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities that can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Hampshire County Council was allocated £14 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability.
The government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review. On 11 June, the government confirmed additional £900m funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing the availability of real time bus information in Newcastle.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is committed to delivering the better bus services that passengers deserve, and as part of this, is working closely with bus operators and local transport authorities to improve the information available to passengers about their bus services.
The Bus Services (No.2) Bill’s information about local services provisions aim to enable public access to a new, central database of information, drawn from the existing bus registration process, and linked to the existing Bus Open Data Service (BODS). We hope that bringing these two data streams together will assist operators in complying with BODS obligations, leading to improved real time information about local bus services across the country. Bus operators are obliged to have working systems to provide real-time information for bus services in order to fulfil the requirements of the Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations.
In addition, as part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government confirmed investment of over £1 billion in 25/26 to support and improve bus services and to keep fares affordable. This includes £712 million for local authorities to support and improve bus services, of which the North East Combined Authority was allocated £23.7 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers. This could include investing in technology to provide passengers with better real-time information.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made on reducing driving test wait times for test centres in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.
Further information on these actions and progress on the DVSA’s plan, which was set out last year, can be found on GOV.UK.
DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners (DEs). From recent campaigns, DVSA has recruited four new potential DEs at driving test centres (DTCs) that serve the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.
DVSA has just completed a further recruitment campaign and hopes to make offers to the successful candidates soon.
DVSA will also continue to strategically deploy examiners to ensure fair coverage across all DTCs in Aberdeenshire, including remote and outstation locations.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to improve bus (a) reliability and (b) frequency in (i) rural and (ii) semi-rural parts of the North East.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to delivering the better, more reliable bus services that passengers deserve throughout the country, including in rural areas. We introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December as part of our ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill will put passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in rural areas. The Bill includes a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.
In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which the Tees Valley Combined Authority was allocated £7.2 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review. On 11 June, the Government confirmed additional funding per year from 26/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has plans for the electrification of the north Wales mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Together with industry partners, we have identified a number of improvements on the North Wales Main Line which will deliver more immediate passenger benefits, including increasing the frequency of services in 2026, which will serve to strengthen the business case for future electrification. Following the Spending Review, we are funding these improvement works as part of the wider £445 million investment to enhance rail infrastructure across Wales — unlocking economic potential, improving connectivity, and supporting communities.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of (a) poverty and (b) economic inequality in the North West; and what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in (i) income and (ii) living standards.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has set out a Plan for Change that includes raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. To deliver this, we have taken action to support households facing the greatest hardships by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.7%, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate to cap deductions from Universal Credit, uplifting the Universal Credit standard allowance to 5% above CPI by 2029-30, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to every billpayer on means-tested benefits. Furthermore, at the Spending Review we expanded Free School Meals to lift 100,000 children out of poverty, funded the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, provided £1bn a year (including Barnett impact) for a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, and extended the £3 Bus Fare Cap in England. This is in addition to investing in 350 deprived communities across the UK, to fund interventions including regeneration, community cohesion and improving the public realm.
The Government is also investing in infrastructure in the North West to spur economic growth, boost wages and increase living standards, providing £4.1bn to the North West via the Transport for City Regions fund. It has recommitted to £160m of funding over 10 years for Investment Zones in Greater Manchester and Liverpool, and reconfirmed support for Liverpool City Region Freeport. Local partners expect Greater Manchester Investment Zone to deliver £1.1 bn in private sector investment and 32,000 jobs, and expect Liverpool City Region’s Investment Zone to generate £320m in private investment and 4,000 jobs.
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2022 Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per head was £19,752 in the North West compared to £22,789 for the UK. The Plan for Change sets out that living standards at a regional level is measured by regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head. The latest ONS data shows that GDP per head, in real terms (2022 prices), was £33,170 per head in the North West and £37,135 per head for the UK in 2023. GDP per head was £23,555 per head in the North West in 1998 compared to £28,570 for the UK.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to reduce levels of antisocial behaviour in town centres in the North East.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe and come to shop, socialise and live.
Police and Crime Commissioners are leading on targeted action to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour that blights our town centres and high streets as part of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative. The work is being delivered in partnership with councils, schools, health services, businesses, transport providers and community groups all playing a role over the summer.
Under the initiative, partners will use targeted enforcement, visible policing and place-based interventions to reduce retail and street crime and anti-social behaviour in over 500 town centres and high streets, including Stockton-on-Tees, across England and Wales. The full list of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative locations (also shown regionally) can be found here: List of Safer Streets summer initiative locations - GOV.UK
In addition, the Home Office is also providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to all 43 forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. Cleveland Police will receive £1,420,423 of this funding to use across the county.