Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he taking to increase the use of light rail and trams; and what plans he has to enable cities, such as York, to establish that infrastructure.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has provided more than £260 million in funding to support light rail systems in England outside London over the pandemic. And the Department continues to work with those Local Authorities to increase patronage as people return to public transport.
It is for local authorities to determine the right transport solution for their area. And Government continues to enable significant investment in local transport through devolved funding packages to cities, such as the £2.5 billion Transforming Cities Fund and the £5.7bn City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the provision of rural bus services in England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local authorities have published Bus Service Improvement Plans, as the National Bus Strategy asked, which provide an assessment of existing services in their area, including detail of current provision of rural bus services. These plans were subject to a detailed assessment and thirty-one counties, city regions and unitary authorities have subsequently been selected to receive a share of funding to level up their local bus services, drawing on the £1.2 billion announced at last year’s Spending Review, as part of the £3 billion we have promised for buses over this Parliament. The successful areas were prioritised based on criteria, which took rural considerations into account, in line with the National Bus Strategy and the supplementary guidance published in May 2021. Rural areas in receipt of indicative funding include Norfolk, Derbyshire, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
The National Bus Strategy encourages consideration of demand responsive transport for areas where demand is more dispersed, and the distances involved make it more challenging to offer services meeting residents’ diverse needs. We awarded funding to 17 pilot projects through the £20 million Rural Mobility Fund to trial innovative, demand responsive services. The schemes provide real-world experience and data to develop our understanding of introducing such services in rural areas.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the table entitled Total funding amounts per year in the transparency data on Highways maintenance and ITB funding formula allocations, 2022 to 2025, updated by his Department on 28 February 2022, how much equivalent funding was received by authorities now covered by City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements in each year from 2019-20 to date.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The £5.7 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme provides long-term capital funding to improve the local transport networks of eight city regions across England over the next five years from 2022/23. These five-year settlements, confirmed with Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), consolidate new and existing funds in these areas, including the Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, and the Potholes Fund.
The eligible MCAs have flexibility to manage their settlements to meet local transport priorities, including discretion on the funding of highways maintenance programmes within their areas and constituent local authorities. Prior to 2022/23 there were no local authorities covered by CRSTS, but funding for constituent local authorities still went directly to the MCA.
For 2019/20, the Pothole Action Fund was combined with the Flood Resilience Fund. The two funds provided a total of £50 million and the individual allocations for eligible local authorities in England, outside of London, are listed in the table below.
Details of the individual allocations for the remaining five years for local authorities are published on GOV.UK at the following links:
2022-23 – 2024/25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations
Authority | Pothole Action Fund & Flood Resilience Fund |
Bedford Borough Council | 162,473 |
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | 98,498 |
Blackpool Council | 81,477 |
Bournemouth Borough Council | 92,325 |
Bracknell Forest Borough Council | 84,931 |
Brighton and Hove City Council | 108,485 |
Buckinghamshire County Council | 593,292 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority | 987,459 |
Central Bedfordshire Council | 259,529 |
Cheshire East Council | 533,171 |
Cheshire West and Chester Council | 436,018 |
Cornwall Council | 1,293,715 |
Cumbria County Council | 1,416,792 |
Derby City Council | 133,305 |
Derbyshire County Council | 1,014,920 |
Devon County Council | 2,272,855 |
Dorset County Council | 757,831 |
Durham County Council | 661,777 |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council | 623,454 |
East Sussex County Council | 604,761 |
Essex County Council | 1,405,787 |
Gateshead Council | 156,879 |
Gloucestershire County Council | 993,213 |
Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 1,630,206 |
Hampshire County Council | 1,543,481 |
Herefordshire Council | 603,370 |
Hertfordshire County Council | 889,480 |
Kent County Council | 1,596,053 |
Kingston-upon-Hull City Council | 128,716 |
Lancashire County Council | 1,242,575 |
Leicester City Council | 148,727 |
Leicestershire County Council | 794,423 |
Lincolnshire County Council | 1,642,351 |
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | 991,589 |
Luton Borough Council | 80,205 |
Medway Council | 151,142 |
Milton Keynes Council | 216,586 |
Newcastle City Council | 170,564 |
Norfolk County Council | 1,750,263 |
North East Lincolnshire Council | 117,571 |
North Lincolnshire Council | 251,576 |
North Somerset Council | 204,795 |
North Tyneside Council | 143,919 |
North Yorkshire County Council | 1,637,180 |
Northamptonshire County Council | 812,440 |
Northumberland County Council | 899,542 |
Nottingham City Council | 141,319 |
Nottinghamshire County Council | 858,967 |
Oxfordshire County Council | 864,837 |
Plymouth City Council | 140,815 |
Borough of Poole Council | 95,493 |
Portsmouth City Council | 81,777 |
Reading Borough Council | 72,114 |
Rutland County Council | 102,003 |
Sheffield City Region Combined Authority | 722,755 |
Shropshire Council | 908,396 |
Slough Borough Council | 54,952 |
Somerset County Council | 1,211,948 |
South Tyneside Council | 99,525 |
Southampton City Council | 104,509 |
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council | 81,571 |
Staffordshire County Council | 1,123,967 |
Stoke-on-Trent City Council | 156,481 |
Suffolk County Council | 1,236,079 |
Sunderland City Council | 202,799 |
Surrey County Council | 983,784 |
Swindon Borough Council | 155,426 |
Tees Valley Combined Authority | 534,488 |
Telford and Wrekin Council | 185,289 |
Thurrock Council | 104,519 |
Torbay Council | 94,730 |
Warrington Borough Council | 177,052 |
Warwickshire County Council | 717,722 |
West Berkshire Council | 240,000 |
West Midlands Combined Authority | 941,981 |
West of England Combined Authority | 661,564 |
West Sussex County Council | 771,759 |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 1,727,090 |
Wiltshire Council | 857,899 |
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead | 121,018 |
Wokingham Borough Council | 138,325 |
Worcestershire County Council | 764,933 |
City Of York Council | 142,417 |
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to transparency data on Highways maintenance and ITB funding formula allocations, 2022 to 2025, updated by his Department on 28 February 2022, how much funding is allocated to each local authority for potholes in each year from 2019-20 to 2024-25.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The £5.7 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme provides long-term capital funding to improve the local transport networks of eight city regions across England over the next five years from 2022/23. These five-year settlements, confirmed with Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), consolidate new and existing funds in these areas, including the Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, and the Potholes Fund.
The eligible MCAs have flexibility to manage their settlements to meet local transport priorities, including discretion on the funding of highways maintenance programmes within their areas and constituent local authorities. Prior to 2022/23 there were no local authorities covered by CRSTS, but funding for constituent local authorities still went directly to the MCA.
For 2019/20, the Pothole Action Fund was combined with the Flood Resilience Fund. The two funds provided a total of £50 million and the individual allocations for eligible local authorities in England, outside of London, are listed in the table below.
Details of the individual allocations for the remaining five years for local authorities are published on GOV.UK at the following links:
2022-23 – 2024/25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations
Authority | Pothole Action Fund & Flood Resilience Fund |
Bedford Borough Council | 162,473 |
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | 98,498 |
Blackpool Council | 81,477 |
Bournemouth Borough Council | 92,325 |
Bracknell Forest Borough Council | 84,931 |
Brighton and Hove City Council | 108,485 |
Buckinghamshire County Council | 593,292 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority | 987,459 |
Central Bedfordshire Council | 259,529 |
Cheshire East Council | 533,171 |
Cheshire West and Chester Council | 436,018 |
Cornwall Council | 1,293,715 |
Cumbria County Council | 1,416,792 |
Derby City Council | 133,305 |
Derbyshire County Council | 1,014,920 |
Devon County Council | 2,272,855 |
Dorset County Council | 757,831 |
Durham County Council | 661,777 |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council | 623,454 |
East Sussex County Council | 604,761 |
Essex County Council | 1,405,787 |
Gateshead Council | 156,879 |
Gloucestershire County Council | 993,213 |
Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 1,630,206 |
Hampshire County Council | 1,543,481 |
Herefordshire Council | 603,370 |
Hertfordshire County Council | 889,480 |
Kent County Council | 1,596,053 |
Kingston-upon-Hull City Council | 128,716 |
Lancashire County Council | 1,242,575 |
Leicester City Council | 148,727 |
Leicestershire County Council | 794,423 |
Lincolnshire County Council | 1,642,351 |
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | 991,589 |
Luton Borough Council | 80,205 |
Medway Council | 151,142 |
Milton Keynes Council | 216,586 |
Newcastle City Council | 170,564 |
Norfolk County Council | 1,750,263 |
North East Lincolnshire Council | 117,571 |
North Lincolnshire Council | 251,576 |
North Somerset Council | 204,795 |
North Tyneside Council | 143,919 |
North Yorkshire County Council | 1,637,180 |
Northamptonshire County Council | 812,440 |
Northumberland County Council | 899,542 |
Nottingham City Council | 141,319 |
Nottinghamshire County Council | 858,967 |
Oxfordshire County Council | 864,837 |
Plymouth City Council | 140,815 |
Borough of Poole Council | 95,493 |
Portsmouth City Council | 81,777 |
Reading Borough Council | 72,114 |
Rutland County Council | 102,003 |
Sheffield City Region Combined Authority | 722,755 |
Shropshire Council | 908,396 |
Slough Borough Council | 54,952 |
Somerset County Council | 1,211,948 |
South Tyneside Council | 99,525 |
Southampton City Council | 104,509 |
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council | 81,571 |
Staffordshire County Council | 1,123,967 |
Stoke-on-Trent City Council | 156,481 |
Suffolk County Council | 1,236,079 |
Sunderland City Council | 202,799 |
Surrey County Council | 983,784 |
Swindon Borough Council | 155,426 |
Tees Valley Combined Authority | 534,488 |
Telford and Wrekin Council | 185,289 |
Thurrock Council | 104,519 |
Torbay Council | 94,730 |
Warrington Borough Council | 177,052 |
Warwickshire County Council | 717,722 |
West Berkshire Council | 240,000 |
West Midlands Combined Authority | 941,981 |
West of England Combined Authority | 661,564 |
West Sussex County Council | 771,759 |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 1,727,090 |
Wiltshire Council | 857,899 |
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead | 121,018 |
Wokingham Borough Council | 138,325 |
Worcestershire County Council | 764,933 |
City Of York Council | 142,417 |
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the table entitled Local highway authority amounts per year in the transparency data on Highways maintenance and ITB funding formula allocations, 2022 to 2025, updated by his Department on 28 February 2022, how much each local authority covered by the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements will receive per year.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The £5.7 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme provides long-term capital funding to improve the local transport networks of eight city regions across England over the next five years from 2022/23. These five-year settlements, confirmed with Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), consolidate new and existing funds in these areas, including the Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, and the Potholes Fund.
The eligible MCAs have flexibility to manage their settlements to meet local transport priorities, including discretion on the funding of highways maintenance programmes within their areas and constituent local authorities. Prior to 2022/23 there were no local authorities covered by CRSTS, but funding for constituent local authorities still went directly to the MCA.
For 2019/20, the Pothole Action Fund was combined with the Flood Resilience Fund. The two funds provided a total of £50 million and the individual allocations for eligible local authorities in England, outside of London, are listed in the table below.
Details of the individual allocations for the remaining five years for local authorities are published on GOV.UK at the following links:
2022-23 – 2024/25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations
Authority | Pothole Action Fund & Flood Resilience Fund |
Bedford Borough Council | 162,473 |
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | 98,498 |
Blackpool Council | 81,477 |
Bournemouth Borough Council | 92,325 |
Bracknell Forest Borough Council | 84,931 |
Brighton and Hove City Council | 108,485 |
Buckinghamshire County Council | 593,292 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority | 987,459 |
Central Bedfordshire Council | 259,529 |
Cheshire East Council | 533,171 |
Cheshire West and Chester Council | 436,018 |
Cornwall Council | 1,293,715 |
Cumbria County Council | 1,416,792 |
Derby City Council | 133,305 |
Derbyshire County Council | 1,014,920 |
Devon County Council | 2,272,855 |
Dorset County Council | 757,831 |
Durham County Council | 661,777 |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council | 623,454 |
East Sussex County Council | 604,761 |
Essex County Council | 1,405,787 |
Gateshead Council | 156,879 |
Gloucestershire County Council | 993,213 |
Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 1,630,206 |
Hampshire County Council | 1,543,481 |
Herefordshire Council | 603,370 |
Hertfordshire County Council | 889,480 |
Kent County Council | 1,596,053 |
Kingston-upon-Hull City Council | 128,716 |
Lancashire County Council | 1,242,575 |
Leicester City Council | 148,727 |
Leicestershire County Council | 794,423 |
Lincolnshire County Council | 1,642,351 |
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | 991,589 |
Luton Borough Council | 80,205 |
Medway Council | 151,142 |
Milton Keynes Council | 216,586 |
Newcastle City Council | 170,564 |
Norfolk County Council | 1,750,263 |
North East Lincolnshire Council | 117,571 |
North Lincolnshire Council | 251,576 |
North Somerset Council | 204,795 |
North Tyneside Council | 143,919 |
North Yorkshire County Council | 1,637,180 |
Northamptonshire County Council | 812,440 |
Northumberland County Council | 899,542 |
Nottingham City Council | 141,319 |
Nottinghamshire County Council | 858,967 |
Oxfordshire County Council | 864,837 |
Plymouth City Council | 140,815 |
Borough of Poole Council | 95,493 |
Portsmouth City Council | 81,777 |
Reading Borough Council | 72,114 |
Rutland County Council | 102,003 |
Sheffield City Region Combined Authority | 722,755 |
Shropshire Council | 908,396 |
Slough Borough Council | 54,952 |
Somerset County Council | 1,211,948 |
South Tyneside Council | 99,525 |
Southampton City Council | 104,509 |
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council | 81,571 |
Staffordshire County Council | 1,123,967 |
Stoke-on-Trent City Council | 156,481 |
Suffolk County Council | 1,236,079 |
Sunderland City Council | 202,799 |
Surrey County Council | 983,784 |
Swindon Borough Council | 155,426 |
Tees Valley Combined Authority | 534,488 |
Telford and Wrekin Council | 185,289 |
Thurrock Council | 104,519 |
Torbay Council | 94,730 |
Warrington Borough Council | 177,052 |
Warwickshire County Council | 717,722 |
West Berkshire Council | 240,000 |
West Midlands Combined Authority | 941,981 |
West of England Combined Authority | 661,564 |
West Sussex County Council | 771,759 |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 1,727,090 |
Wiltshire Council | 857,899 |
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead | 121,018 |
Wokingham Borough Council | 138,325 |
Worcestershire County Council | 764,933 |
City Of York Council | 142,417 |
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting economic growth in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I have regular discussions with my ministerial colleagues on a range of matters, including economic growth. The UK Government closely monitors economic growth across the UK and has taken steps to support economic growth in Wales.
The UK Government have provided £46 million through the UK Community Renewal Fund, of which Newport received £2.8 million. This included £850,000 for a ‘Foot in the Door’ programme aimed at improving access to pre-employment training activity for 300 beneficiaries in Newport and over £700,000 to the Welsh Institute of Digital Information to invest in its research and development centre at the University of South Wales Newport campus.
Furthermore, the UK Government is investing £790 million in city and growth deals across Wales, with the Cardiff Capital Region, which includes Newport, receiving £500 million. These Growth Deals empower Wales’ regions to determine how best to drive jobs and growth in their areas, and to identify their own needs and strengths.
The UK Government also recently published the Levelling Up White Paper that sets out our ambitions on levelling up across the UK, tackling regional and local inequalities so we can see growth, more jobs, and higher wages UK-wide. Wales remains front and centre in the UK Government’s plans to level up and have received £121 million through the first rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, in addition to £464,000 through the Community Ownership Fund. These funds will support vital transport improvements, invest in local skills, support local people into employment and regenerate town centres. All to drive local growth and invest for the people and communities most in need, across Wales.
The UK Government is further supporting young people in Wales through the Kickstart programme, which provides fully funded six-month jobs for 16-24-year olds on Universal Credit, with 6,000 jobs already started in Wales. Sustainable jobs are integral to building back better and we are determined to level up every part of the UK.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much of the levelling up fund is specifically earmarked for improving Birmingham’s bus network.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund invests in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
Successful applicants to the first round of the Levelling Up Fund were announced alongside the 2021 Spending Review. Birmingham City Council was awarded over £52 million in funding across three projects, including £19.94 million for the ‘Dudley Road’ project.
This bid focuses on major highways improvements around Birmingham City Centre to improve transport accessibility into the city. This includes the provision of bus priority measures, which will improve bus journey times into and out of the city.
Further funding opportunities will be available through a second round of the Levelling Up Fund, which will open in spring 2022. More information on this will be available in due course
The West Midlands Combined Authority also received £1 billion in funding from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement to improve the regions tram, train, bus and cycle networks.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to improve provisions for cyclists.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is making a number of legislative and statutory changes to make it easier for local authorities to increase cycling and walking rates. Regulations currently before Parliament are due to come into force on 31 May that will enable local authorities to apply for designated powers to issue civil penalties to those driving in mandatory cycle lanes. The regulations will be supported by statutory guidance. Mayors in England will be given more powers to manage their Key Route Networks, allowing them to introduce more cycle infrastructure in their city regions. The recent changes which Parliament approved to The Highway Code are also designed to bring about a positive shift in road user behaviour towards those who walk, cycle and ride horses.
As required by the Infrastructure Act 2015, the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) will be published in the spring and will give a statutory basis to the vision outlined in the Prime Minister’s 2020 Gear Change plan. The Strategy will set out the financial resources available for walking and cycling and the other matters required by the Infrastructure Act 2015, including objectives for walking and cycling.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the condition of roads in (a) Bexley Borough and (b) Greater London.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has repeatedly shown its commitment to supporting London’s transport network throughout the pandemic, providing over £4.5bn in emergency funding to Transport for London. Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. It is for them to decide which projects to prioritise and how to allocate funding to London boroughs. This is in line with devolution arrangements on transport spending in other city regions in England. Where London boroughs are the highways authority, it is their responsibility to ensure upkeep.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made in levelling up all regions of the UK.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government published its Levelling Up White Paper earlier this month. It sets out our missions as part of a decade long plan to see the potential of every corner of the United Kingdom fulfilled.
It builds on the funding allocated at the Spending Review, for example boosting investment in skills training with a total of £3.8 billion in skills by 2024-25, transforming local transport networks with £5.7 billion investment in five-year consolidated transport settlements for eight city regions in England, including Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region, and supporting local infrastructure through the first round of the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, which saw 12 places in the North West receive £232 million in funding.
It also provides further detail on the £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund, helping people to access new opportunities in places in need.