Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Hitchin constituency is not available. Information for the Hertfordshire local authority is given below, where available. Alternative data for the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency is also offered where relevant.
Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 56,667 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency.
Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hertfordshire.
Train usage
According to Office of Rail and Road statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 17.8 million passenger rail journeys within East of England that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire. There were also 52.6 million journeys that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire that ended or started from regions other than the East of England.
Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2021 and November 2022, 78.2% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in North Hertfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District) and 73.8% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in Hertfordshire (County).
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much per capita funding has been allocated from the public purse to cycling in Central Bedfordshire in each of the last three years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Department estimates that on average around £3 to £4 per capita has been allocated from the public purse to cycling and walking in Central Bedfordshire in each of the last three financial years. This estimate is based on both ring-fenced funding streams (including grants from the Sustainable Transport Transition Fund, Access Fund, and Small Business Research Initiative, as well as Bikeability training in schools in Central Bedfordshire), and non-ringfenced funding streams (including the Integrated Transport Block and Maintenance Block) of which a certain percentage is spent on measures which benefit cyclists and pedestrians. Local authorities are also able to use other local funds for cycling and walking projects, making it difficult to give a more precise estimate.
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217210, how much funding his Department has allocated to each district and unitary council in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk for road improvement in each year since 2005.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The table below lists the funding the Department for Transport has allocated to (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk for road improvement since 2005:
| £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Year | Suffolk | Bedfordshire* | Cambridgeshire | Essex | Hertfordshire | Norfolk |
05/06 | 22.6 | 9.4 | 21.0 | 31.9 | 21.2 | 29.3 |
06/07 | 23.6 | 9.6 | 21.4 | 30.0 | 23.9 | 30.5 |
07/08 | 21.5 | 7.8 | 20.3 | 34.9 | 24.2 | 32.5 |
08/09 | 23.0 | 8.7 | 21.4 | 33.6 | 25.6 | 31.4 |
09/10 | 21.7 | 9.2 | 19.4 | 39.4 | 25.9 | 30.5 |
10/11 | 23.2 | 9.5 | 18.9 | 60.0 | 26.5 | 32.1 |
11/12 | 27.2 | 10.4 | 17.8 | 61.2 | 30.6 | 35.2 |
12/13 | 21.8 | 9.1 | 14.8 | 34.4 | 24.8 | 26.7 |
13/14 | 24.3 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 33.1 | 27.2 | 30.4 |
14/15 | 33.9 | 14.8 | 20.3 | 44.5 | 32.9 | 60.8 |
* from 2010/11 Bedfordshire split into the 2 unitary authorities of Central Bedfordshire and Bedford and therefore this figure is the sum of their allocations.
The Department does not provide any funding directly to district councils. The table below lists the funding provided to the Unitary Authorities that fall within the historical counties of Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk for road improvement since 2005:
| £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Year | Bedford* | Central Bedfordshire* | Luton | Peterborough | Southend on Sea | Thurrock |
05/06 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 6.6 | ||
06/07 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 5.3 | ||
07/08 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 4.5 | 3.2 | ||
08/09 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 4.1 | 3.0 | ||
09/10 | 3.9 | 11.0 | 4.1 | 3.1 | ||
10/11 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 3.3 | 10.5 | 3.7 | 2.9 |
11/12 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 2.9 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 |
12/13 | 3.8 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
13/14 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 13.8 | 8.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
14/15 | 5.2 | 9.6 | 5.3 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 3.5 |
* from 2010/11 the 2 unitary authorities of Central Bedfordshire and Bedford came into being and therefore this figure is the sum of the allocations to Bedfordshire.
These tables include funding we have provided through the local Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, Severe Weather Funding, Local Major Projects and Local Pinch Point Fund schemes. The table does not include funding provided through the Bus Service Operators Grant, Local Sustainable Transport Fund, or Cycling Grant.
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. It is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.
Asked by: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department allocated to each local authority in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Hertfordshire, (e) Norfolk and (g) England for road improvement in each year since 1997.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The table below lists the funding the Department for Transport has allocated to (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Hertfordshire, (e) Norfolk and (g) England for road improvement for which records are available:
Year | Suffolk | Bedfordshire* | Cambridgeshire | Hertfordshire | Norfolk | England |
00/01 | 8.5 | 4.0 | 7.3 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 514.4 |
01/02 | 21.0 | 7.1 | 15.1 | 22.6 | 29.2 | 1,074.0 |
02/03 | 20.0 | 6.6 | 15.5 | 23.5 | 29.5 | 1,123.4 |
03/04 | 20.6 | 7.4 | 18.1 | 22.1 | 29.4 | 1,178.5 |
04/05 | 22.2 | 8.0 | 22.0 | 21.6 | 33.0 | 1,308.4 |
05/06 | 22.6 | 9.4 | 21.0 | 21.2 | 29.3 | 1,212.4 |
06/07 | 23.6 | 9.6 | 21.4 | 23.9 | 30.5 | 1,262.7 |
07/08 | 21.5 | 7.8 | 20.3 | 24.2 | 32.5 | 1,245.0 |
08/09 | 23.0 | 8.7 | 21.4 | 25.6 | 31.4 | 1,456.1 |
09/10 | 21.7 | 9.2 | 19.4 | 25.9 | 30.5 | 1,552.0 |
10/11 | 23.2 | 9.5 | 18.9 | 26.5 | 32.1 | 1,552.1 |
11/12 | 27.2 | 10.4 | 17.8 | 30.6 | 35.2 | 1,482.6 |
12/13 | 21.8 | 9.1 | 14.8 | 24.8 | 26.7 | 1,227.9 |
13/14 | 24.3 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 27/2 | 30.4 | 1,576.2 |
14/15 | 33.9 | 14.8 | 20.3 | 32.9 | 60.8 | 2,025.2 |
* from 2010/11 Bedfordshire split into the 2 unitary authorities of Central Bedfordshire and Bedford and therefore this figure is the sum of their allocations.
This table includes funding we have provided through the local Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, Severe Weather Funding, Local Major Projects and Local Pinch Point Fund schemes. The table does not include funding provided through the Bus Service Operators Grant, Local Sustainable Transport Fund, or Cycling Grant.
The Department is also funding local highways maintenance projects in Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sheffield, Isle of Wight and the London Borough of Hounslow through the Private Finance Initiative.
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. It is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.