Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect a direct train service between Sheffield and Manchester Airport to be reinstated.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I recognise the aspiration of the people of Sheffield to have a direct service with Manchester Airport. The Manchester Task Force — a cross-industry body including Network Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester, Transport for the North and train operators - is continuing its work to address the capacity constraints through Manchester with a view to enabling improved connectivity to the airport for rail passengers and businesses from Sheffield and other towns and cities across the North.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to cancel Phase 2 of HS2 on jobs at (a) the Alstom site in Derby and (b) around the country.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
(a) Alstom are in a JV with Hitachi to build the HS2 rolling stock for phase 1 only and did not have a contract for any works on phase 2 of HS2.
(b) The large majority of jobs on the programme are currently working on the delivery of Phase 1 between Birmingham and London. The new investment plans outlined in Network North will provide significant opportunities for contractual work around the country, providing job opportunities in a number of sectors across the range of projects in the delivery pipeline.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the high level of transport poverty in rural areas, as outlined in the report Getting the measure of transport poverty published by the Social Market Foundation on 15 November.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government understands that the transport needs of communities in rural areas differ from those in urban environments for a variety of reasons including demographics, lower population density and travel distances.
The Department for Transport published its ‘Future of Transport: supporting rural transport innovation’ guidance in early October, and will now work to implement its pledges, such as working closer with local leadership to help deploy and scale innovative new technologies in rural communities. As part of this guide, the Department is making up to £3 million of funding available for rural innovation. This will help explore innovative solutions to long-standing issues, such as loneliness and isolation, poor access to services and economically challenging business cases for rural transport services.
The Department is also providing considerable support for bus and other transport services, including in rural areas. Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities, including Hertfordshire, in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone. We have also announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
More widely, in May, we announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. £140 million of this funding will go to bus operators to support services, and the remaining £160 million will go to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to protect and enhance bus services, and support local fares initiatives.
The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver a £2 fare cap on single bus fares in England outside London to help passengers save on their regular travel costs, which the Prime Minister recently announced would be extended until the end of 2024.
On 4 October, as part of Network North, we announced a further £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands, helping to make them more frequent, reliable, cheaper, and easier to use.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press notice entitled £8 billion boost to repair roads and back drivers, published on 17 November 2023, what proportion of the UK's road length will be resurfaced using the announced funding.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Across England, local highway authorities are receiving an additional £150 million this financial year as the first instalment of the £8.3 billion roads resurfacing fund through Network North.
This is in addition to the £915 million baseline funding for 2023/24 for those English highway authorities which are outside London and outside the Mayoral Combined Authority areas in receipt of City Region Sustainable Settlements, for whom separate arrangements apply. It is also in addition to the £200 million increase for the 2023/24 financial year that was announced at Budget 2023.
All eligible highway authorities in England will receive a further uplift from the additional £150 million that is also being provided in 2024/2025. Further details of how the rest of the £8.3 billion will be allocated will be announced in due course, this is anticipated to take place at a future Spending Review.
The tables below provide confirmed funding levels for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025, and the indicative minimum additional funding allocations between 2023 to 2024 and 2033 to 2034 inclusive.
Local Authority allocations:
Local authority | Current baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000) | 2023-24 – additional funding (£000) | 2024-25 – additional funding (£000) | Minimum additional overall uplift between 2023-24 and 2033-34 (£000) |
Bedford | 3,728 | 470 | 470 | 14,725 |
Blackburn with Darwen | 2,408 | 306 | 306 | 20,438 |
Blackpool | 1,501 | 191 | 191 | 12,727 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4,786 | 604 | 604 | 18,903 |
Bracknell Forest | 2,124 | 268 | 268 | 8,391 |
Brighton and Hove | 3,274 | 413 | 413 | 12,935 |
Buckinghamshire | 13,111 | 1,654 | 1,654 | 51,785 |
Central Bedfordshire | 5,564 | 702 | 702 | 21,983 |
Cheshire East | 13,048 | 1,658 | 1,658 | 110,731 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 9,929 | 1,262 | 1,262 | 84,257 |
Cornwall | 28,325 | 3,573 | 3,573 | 111,883 |
County Durham | 14,841 | 1,886 | 1,886 | 125,951 |
Cumberland | 15,339 | 1,949 | 1,949 | 130,180 |
Derby | 2,765 | 352 | 352 | 20,545 |
Derbyshire | 23,699 | 3,014 | 3,014 | 176,114 |
Devon | 52,823 | 6,663 | 6,663 | 208,657 |
Dorset | 16,391 | 2,068 | 2,068 | 64,749 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 13,793 | 1,753 | 1,753 | 117,059 |
East Sussex | 13,275 | 1,674 | 1,674 | 52,432 |
Essex | 30,685 | 3,870 | 3,870 | 121,205 |
Gateshead | 3,420 | 435 | 435 | 29,028 |
Gloucestershire | 22,266 | 2,809 | 2,809 | 87,955 |
Hampshire | 33,493 | 4,225 | 4,225 | 132,297 |
Herefordshire, County of | 14,389 | 1,830 | 1,830 | 106,918 |
Hertfordshire | 22,230 | 2,804 | 2,804 | 87,813 |
Isle of Wight | None – private financial initiative (PFI) | None – PFI | None – PFI | None – PFI |
Isles of Scilly | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement |
Kent | 34,058 | 4,296 | 4,296 | 134,531 |
Kingston upon Hull, City of | 2,810 | 357 | 357 | 23,855 |
Lancashire | 28,811 | 3,661 | 3,661 | 244,511 |
Leicester | 3,262 | 415 | 415 | 24,241 |
Leicestershire | 17,755 | 2,258 | 2,258 | 131,939 |
Lincolnshire | 38,723 | 4,924 | 4,924 | 287,750 |
London | None – separate funding arrangement | 7,530 | 7,530 | 235,804 |
Luton | 1,708 | 215 | 215 | 6,746 |
Medway | 3,177 | 401 | 401 | 12,552 |
Milton Keynes | 6,397 | 807 | 807 | 25,263 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 3,389 | 431 | 431 | 28,758 |
Norfolk | 35,757 | 4,510 | 4,510 | 141,240 |
North East Lincolnshire | 2,491 | 317 | 317 | 21,145 |
North Lincolnshire | 5,744 | 730 | 730 | 48,754 |
North Northamptonshire | 8,404 | 1,069 | 1,069 | 62,450 |
North Somerset | 5,011 | 632 | 632 | 19,789 |
North Tyneside | 2,819 | 358 | 358 | 23,922 |
North Yorkshire | 37,021 | 4,704 | 4,704 | 314,185 |
Northumberland | 21,780 | 2,768 | 2,768 | 184,836 |
Nottingham | 2,765 | 352 | 352 | 20,554 |
Nottinghamshire | 18,630 | 2,369 | 2,369 | 138,443 |
Oxfordshire | 20,846 | 2,629 | 2,629 | 82,340 |
Plymouth | 2,903 | 366 | 366 | 11,469 |
Portsmouth | 1,786 | 225 | 225 | 7,054 |
Reading | 1,838 | 232 | 232 | 7,262 |
Rutland | 2,381 | 303 | 303 | 17,696 |
Shropshire | 20,599 | 2,619 | 2,619 | 153,072 |
Slough | 1,129 | 142 | 142 | 4,457 |
Somerset | 28,111 | 3,546 | 3,546 | 111,039 |
South Tyneside | 1,933 | 246 | 246 | 16,408 |
Southampton | 2,128 | 268 | 268 | 8,406 |
Southend-on-Sea | 1,739 | 219 | 219 | 6,868 |
Staffordshire | 25,067 | 3,188 | 3,188 | 186,273 |
Stoke-on-Trent | 2,972 | 378 | 378 | 22,087 |
Suffolk | 27,238 | 3,436 | 3,436 | 107,590 |
Sunderland | 4,129 | 525 | 525 | 35,035 |
Surrey | 20,869 | 2,632 | 2,632 | 82,436 |
Swindon | 3,496 | 441 | 441 | 13,807 |
Telford and Wrekin | 4,311 | 548 | 548 | 32,035 |
Thurrock | 2,489 | 314 | 314 | 9,832 |
Torbay | 1,820 | 230 | 230 | 7,193 |
Warrington | 3,989 | 507 | 507 | 33,858 |
Warwickshire | 16,171 | 2,056 | 2,056 | 120,168 |
West Berkshire | 5,387 | 679 | 679 | 21,279 |
West Northamptonshire | 10,669 | 1,357 | 1,357 | 79,281 |
West Sussex | 17,136 | 2,161 | 2,161 | 67,684 |
Westmorland and Furness | 18,474 | 2,347 | 2,347 | 156,777 |
Wiltshire | 20,727 | 2,614 | 2,614 | 81,869 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | 2,720 | 343 | 343 | 10,741 |
Wokingham | 3,314 | 418 | 418 | 13,095 |
Worcestershire | 18,738 | 2,383 | 2,383 | 139,243 |
York, City of | 2,835 | 360 | 360 | 24,055 |
Total | 945,663 | 127,249 | 127,249 | 5,731,338 |
Combined local authority allocations
Combined authority (CA) | Current baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000) | 2023-24 – additional funding (£000) | 2024-25 – additional funding (£000) | Minimum additional uplift from 2023-24 to 2033-34 (£000) |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CA | 23,062 | 2,909 | 2,909 | 91,095 |
Greater Manchester CA | City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) | 4,438 | 4,438 | 296,466 |
Liverpool City Region CA | CRSTS | 2,684 | 2,684 | 179,225 |
South Yorkshire MCA | CRSTS | 1,994 | 1,994 | 133,175 |
Tees Valley CA | CRSTS | 1,499 | 1,499 | 100,104 |
West Midlands CA | CRSTS | 2,586 | 2,586 | 151,192 |
West of England CA | CRSTS | 2,007 | 2,007 | 62,847 |
West Yorkshire CA | CRSTS | 4,633 | 4,633 | 309,559 |
CA total | Most receive funding via CRSTS | 22,750 | 22,750 | 1,323,663 |
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled £8 billion boost to repair roads and back drivers, published on 17 November 2023, what his planned timescale is for the rollout of that funding.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Across England, local highway authorities are receiving an additional £150 million this financial year as the first instalment of the £8.3 billion roads resurfacing fund through Network North.
This is in addition to the £915 million baseline funding for 2023/24 for those English highway authorities which are outside London and outside the Mayoral Combined Authority areas in receipt of City Region Sustainable Settlements, for whom separate arrangements apply. It is also in addition to the £200 million increase for the 2023/24 financial year that was announced at Budget 2023.
All eligible highway authorities in England will receive a further uplift from the additional £150 million that is also being provided in 2024/2025. Further details of how the rest of the £8.3 billion will be allocated will be announced in due course, this is anticipated to take place at a future Spending Review.
The tables below provide confirmed funding levels for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025, and the indicative minimum additional funding allocations between 2023 to 2024 and 2033 to 2034 inclusive.
Local Authority allocations:
Local authority | Current baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000) | 2023-24 – additional funding (£000) | 2024-25 – additional funding (£000) | Minimum additional overall uplift between 2023-24 and 2033-34 (£000) |
Bedford | 3,728 | 470 | 470 | 14,725 |
Blackburn with Darwen | 2,408 | 306 | 306 | 20,438 |
Blackpool | 1,501 | 191 | 191 | 12,727 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4,786 | 604 | 604 | 18,903 |
Bracknell Forest | 2,124 | 268 | 268 | 8,391 |
Brighton and Hove | 3,274 | 413 | 413 | 12,935 |
Buckinghamshire | 13,111 | 1,654 | 1,654 | 51,785 |
Central Bedfordshire | 5,564 | 702 | 702 | 21,983 |
Cheshire East | 13,048 | 1,658 | 1,658 | 110,731 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 9,929 | 1,262 | 1,262 | 84,257 |
Cornwall | 28,325 | 3,573 | 3,573 | 111,883 |
County Durham | 14,841 | 1,886 | 1,886 | 125,951 |
Cumberland | 15,339 | 1,949 | 1,949 | 130,180 |
Derby | 2,765 | 352 | 352 | 20,545 |
Derbyshire | 23,699 | 3,014 | 3,014 | 176,114 |
Devon | 52,823 | 6,663 | 6,663 | 208,657 |
Dorset | 16,391 | 2,068 | 2,068 | 64,749 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 13,793 | 1,753 | 1,753 | 117,059 |
East Sussex | 13,275 | 1,674 | 1,674 | 52,432 |
Essex | 30,685 | 3,870 | 3,870 | 121,205 |
Gateshead | 3,420 | 435 | 435 | 29,028 |
Gloucestershire | 22,266 | 2,809 | 2,809 | 87,955 |
Hampshire | 33,493 | 4,225 | 4,225 | 132,297 |
Herefordshire, County of | 14,389 | 1,830 | 1,830 | 106,918 |
Hertfordshire | 22,230 | 2,804 | 2,804 | 87,813 |
Isle of Wight | None – private financial initiative (PFI) | None – PFI | None – PFI | None – PFI |
Isles of Scilly | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement | None – separate funding arrangement |
Kent | 34,058 | 4,296 | 4,296 | 134,531 |
Kingston upon Hull, City of | 2,810 | 357 | 357 | 23,855 |
Lancashire | 28,811 | 3,661 | 3,661 | 244,511 |
Leicester | 3,262 | 415 | 415 | 24,241 |
Leicestershire | 17,755 | 2,258 | 2,258 | 131,939 |
Lincolnshire | 38,723 | 4,924 | 4,924 | 287,750 |
London | None – separate funding arrangement | 7,530 | 7,530 | 235,804 |
Luton | 1,708 | 215 | 215 | 6,746 |
Medway | 3,177 | 401 | 401 | 12,552 |
Milton Keynes | 6,397 | 807 | 807 | 25,263 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 3,389 | 431 | 431 | 28,758 |
Norfolk | 35,757 | 4,510 | 4,510 | 141,240 |
North East Lincolnshire | 2,491 | 317 | 317 | 21,145 |
North Lincolnshire | 5,744 | 730 | 730 | 48,754 |
North Northamptonshire | 8,404 | 1,069 | 1,069 | 62,450 |
North Somerset | 5,011 | 632 | 632 | 19,789 |
North Tyneside | 2,819 | 358 | 358 | 23,922 |
North Yorkshire | 37,021 | 4,704 | 4,704 | 314,185 |
Northumberland | 21,780 | 2,768 | 2,768 | 184,836 |
Nottingham | 2,765 | 352 | 352 | 20,554 |
Nottinghamshire | 18,630 | 2,369 | 2,369 | 138,443 |
Oxfordshire | 20,846 | 2,629 | 2,629 | 82,340 |
Plymouth | 2,903 | 366 | 366 | 11,469 |
Portsmouth | 1,786 | 225 | 225 | 7,054 |
Reading | 1,838 | 232 | 232 | 7,262 |
Rutland | 2,381 | 303 | 303 | 17,696 |
Shropshire | 20,599 | 2,619 | 2,619 | 153,072 |
Slough | 1,129 | 142 | 142 | 4,457 |
Somerset | 28,111 | 3,546 | 3,546 | 111,039 |
South Tyneside | 1,933 | 246 | 246 | 16,408 |
Southampton | 2,128 | 268 | 268 | 8,406 |
Southend-on-Sea | 1,739 | 219 | 219 | 6,868 |
Staffordshire | 25,067 | 3,188 | 3,188 | 186,273 |
Stoke-on-Trent | 2,972 | 378 | 378 | 22,087 |
Suffolk | 27,238 | 3,436 | 3,436 | 107,590 |
Sunderland | 4,129 | 525 | 525 | 35,035 |
Surrey | 20,869 | 2,632 | 2,632 | 82,436 |
Swindon | 3,496 | 441 | 441 | 13,807 |
Telford and Wrekin | 4,311 | 548 | 548 | 32,035 |
Thurrock | 2,489 | 314 | 314 | 9,832 |
Torbay | 1,820 | 230 | 230 | 7,193 |
Warrington | 3,989 | 507 | 507 | 33,858 |
Warwickshire | 16,171 | 2,056 | 2,056 | 120,168 |
West Berkshire | 5,387 | 679 | 679 | 21,279 |
West Northamptonshire | 10,669 | 1,357 | 1,357 | 79,281 |
West Sussex | 17,136 | 2,161 | 2,161 | 67,684 |
Westmorland and Furness | 18,474 | 2,347 | 2,347 | 156,777 |
Wiltshire | 20,727 | 2,614 | 2,614 | 81,869 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | 2,720 | 343 | 343 | 10,741 |
Wokingham | 3,314 | 418 | 418 | 13,095 |
Worcestershire | 18,738 | 2,383 | 2,383 | 139,243 |
York, City of | 2,835 | 360 | 360 | 24,055 |
Total | 945,663 | 127,249 | 127,249 | 5,731,338 |
Combined local authority allocations
Combined authority (CA) | Current baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000) | 2023-24 – additional funding (£000) | 2024-25 – additional funding (£000) | Minimum additional uplift from 2023-24 to 2033-34 (£000) |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CA | 23,062 | 2,909 | 2,909 | 91,095 |
Greater Manchester CA | City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) | 4,438 | 4,438 | 296,466 |
Liverpool City Region CA | CRSTS | 2,684 | 2,684 | 179,225 |
South Yorkshire MCA | CRSTS | 1,994 | 1,994 | 133,175 |
Tees Valley CA | CRSTS | 1,499 | 1,499 | 100,104 |
West Midlands CA | CRSTS | 2,586 | 2,586 | 151,192 |
West of England CA | CRSTS | 2,007 | 2,007 | 62,847 |
West Yorkshire CA | CRSTS | 4,633 | 4,633 | 309,559 |
CA total | Most receive funding via CRSTS | 22,750 | 22,750 | 1,323,663 |
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to support rural bus services in (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency, (c) Blyth Valley constituency, (d) Hexham constituency, (e) Northumberland and (f) the rest of the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing over £2 billion in funding for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). This includes £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands as part of Network North.
The support provided for bus services (including rural bus services) in the North East is £175 million, covering both the North East Combined Authority (NECA) and the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA).
This figure includes both BSIP funding and Network North BSIP funding up to March 2025.
In addition, our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
On top of this, we have announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the conclusion of the report Getting the measure of transport poverty, published by the Social Market Foundation on 15 November, that investment in public transport is more beneficial to alleviating transport poverty than lowering the cost of driving.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has consistently invested in public transport, including through the most recent announcement of £150 million dedicated to levelling up bus services, with areas across the North and Midlands given extra support for services to become more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of road conditions on motorists.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport works with local highway authorities and with National Highways to assess road surface condition across England annually. Local highway authorities undertake automated road condition surveys on their classified road networks, and their surveys identify road defects and provide an overall score of road condition. The latest data was published on gov.uk on 23 November.
As part of the Government’s Network North plan, local highway authorities across England are set to benefit from the biggest ever increase in funding for local highway networks. The details of this £8.3 billion funding increase were set out in the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 20 November, and in his letter to Parliamentary colleagues.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to allocate further funding for the repair of potholes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport works with local highway authorities and with National Highways to assess road surface condition across England annually. Local highway authorities undertake automated road condition surveys on their classified road networks, and their surveys identify road defects and provide an overall score of road condition. The latest data was published on gov.uk on 23 November.
As part of the Government’s Network North plan, local highway authorities across England are set to benefit from the biggest ever increase in funding for local highway networks. The details of this £8.3 billion funding increase were set out in the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 20 November, and in his letter to Parliamentary colleagues.
Asked by: Ashley Dalton (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department plans to use when allocating the new £2.5 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the North; and what his planned timetable is for announcing those funding decisions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since the Government announced Network North on 4 October, the Department has been working closely with delivery partners to establish and progress plans for delivery. Announcements on the progress of business cases and delivery will be made in due course.
The Department will announce further details on the criteria for the allocation of the new £2.5 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the North and the timetable for announcing funding decisions in due course.