Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any mayoral combined authorities have requested flexibility in the use of devolved transport funds allocated through the 2025 Spending Review.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) and Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlements funding is devolved, the programme already affords Mayoral Combined Authorities (MSAs) flexibility in the use of funds to support local needs and strategic aims. From April 2026, six MSAs will receive CRSTS and TCR as part of an Integrated Settlement providing greater flexibility. The Department will continue to engage with MSAs as they develop their programmes.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has set a maximum proportion of devolved transport funds that may be used for (a) programme management and (b) administration costs in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
For the financial year 2025/26, the Department secured and allocated a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) revenue resource funding (RDEL) uplift of £93 million for the nine recipient Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs), which was confirmed by the Department in January this year. This devolved funding is for MSAs to build capacity and capability within their organisations, in order to support the delivery of their CRSTS programmes, as well as manage the transition between CRSTS and the next five-year Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlement period from April 2027 to March 2032.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of devolved transport funding allocations to mayoral combined authorities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Mayoral Combined Authorities (MSAs) in receipt of devolved City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) and Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlements are required to assess the value for money of schemes against Green Book guidance as part of their business case development. In addition, certain schemes that reach defined thresholds are retained with additional scrutiny provided by the Department.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of Government funding required to sustain the Bee Network over the next five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is committed to supporting the development of integrated transport systems that work better for people and communities across the country, including the Bee Network.
Between 2022-23 and 2026-27, we are providing £1.07bn of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding to Greater Manchester to deliver transformational change to Greater Manchester’s transport infrastructure. Beyond that, we have confirmed a £2.5bn Transport for City Regions settlement for Greater Manchester from 2027-28 to 2031-32. This will provide unprecedented funding that will empower Greater Manchester’s local leaders to make decisions on cycling, walking, bus and rail that support the Bee Network, making journeys quicker, more accessible and reliable.
Additionally, we will be supporting Greater Manchester to maintain and improve bus services in the Bee Network with a share (to be confirmed) of the funding announced as part of the Spending Review to maintain and improve bus services and extend the £3 fare cap until March 2027. This is in addition to the £66.4 million we are providing through the Local Authority Bus Grant in 2025/26.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to grow the economy in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s approach to regional growth will drive growth in city regions, towns and communities and make the most of the opportunities in each part of the country, to make everyone better off. There is excellence right across the country and this government is backing it: lifting living standards and putting more money in people’s pockets.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) will receive £37.9 million in Local Transport Grant funding enabling local authorities to deliver transport improvements including more zero emission buses, cycleways, accessibility and congestion improvement measures. This will deliver a four-fold increase in funding in 2029-30 compared to 2024-25.
Ely and East Cambridgeshire residents will also benefit from the Government’s commitment to growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor to accelerate infrastructure investment, unlock new housing and commercial space, and strengthen partnerships with both private sector and local leaders. This also includes £2.5 billion for continued delivery of East-West Rail, providing new connectivity and unlocking growth across the corridor.
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: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety, security, and resilience of national and regional transport infrastructure, with particular reference to South Yorkshire.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport works closely with transport operators to assess the risks to transport infrastructure arising from, for example, severe weather, security threats or accidents. These risk assessments are used by national and local government and the transport industry to inform planning at all levels. This includes the South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum.
Following the publication of the UK Government’s Resilience Action Plan in July 2025, the Department for Transport is working with cross-government and transport sector stakeholders to identify transport-specific opportunities and interventions to address gaps identified in capabilities.
South Yorkshire will also receive £570 million in City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) funding by March 2027. Following this, the region will benefit from a £1.5 billion share of the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlement. This will fund a number of active travel improvement schemes—including segregated cycleways, improved footpaths, and highways upgrades—that will improve safety for both active travel and road users. The Magna Tinsley scheme, for example, incorporates safety by design. It has already delivered a new toucan crossing at the Sheffield Road/Raby Street junction to provide a safe crossing point from Tinsley Village across Sheffield Road. Further improvements are planned, including segregated cycleways and improved footways.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) local transport authorities and (b) bus operators to increase use of (i) hybrid, (ii) electric and (iii) hydrogen buses on local transport networks.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The full transition to zero emission buses (ZEBs) is a vital part of the Government’s plan to make buses better for passengers and to realise the benefits of lower running costs, cleaner air and smoother, quieter journeys.
The Department has supported the bus sector with almost £500m in direct funding support for ZEBs in recent years, including £38m announced in April to deliver an additional 319 ZEBs through the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas) programme.
The Government has reduced the number of different funding streams we pay to Local Transport Authorities. Major city regions will benefit from the £15.6bn Transport for Cities fund to improve local transport in some of our largest city regions, allowing local leaders to play a more active role in the delivery of local bus services, in partnership with our bus operators, and allocate some funding toward decarbonising their local fleets.
Our smaller cities, towns and rural areas will receive £2.3bn from the Local Transport Grant and over £800m bus capital funding. Local leaders can use this funding to invest in local priorities, such as investment in new ZEBs.
To support our domestic ZEB industry, the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel was established in March 2025. A key objective of the Panel is to help create a steady pipeline of manufacturing orders. This pipeline involves gathering the necessary data on bus orders over the next ten years into one place so that it is accessible to all ZEB stakeholders. This will offer greater planning certainty to both local transport authorities and bus operators as they develop future decarbonisation strategies. Equally, UK-based manufacturers are well placed to benefit from this stability.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding she has allocated to local authorities in the Tees Valley to support active travel schemes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 12 February, the Department announced almost £300 million of funding to support active travel across England, including allocations to local authorities through the Active Travel Fund 5 and Consolidated Active Travel Fund. Of this funding, the Tees Valley Combined Authority has received over £810,000 in capital funding for 24/25 and over £2.4 million in revenue funding for 24/25 and capital funding for 25/26.
In addition, the Tees Valley Combined Authority has been awarded £978 million through its Transport for City Regions settlement, from 2027-28 to 2031-32. This funding can be used to support active travel schemes across the region. Active Travel England has also awarded over £240,000 to the Combined Authority’s constituent authorities to support Bikeability cycle training in 2024/25.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Tees Valley Combined Authority on transport priorities for the region.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department has allocated Tees Valley Combined Authority £978m through the Transport for City Regions settlements over the 5-year period from 2027-32. This is in addition to £310m allocated to Tees Valley via the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS).
My officials maintain regular engagement with Tees Valley Combined Authority, including a visit and strategic discussion with the CA in February 2025 which took place over two days and included in-depth conversations on the region’s transport priorities. A follow-up meeting between Mayor Ben Houchen and I was planned but had to be postponed at the Mayor’s request.