Transport Questions House of Commons

Welcome to BBC Parliament's live

coverage of the House of Commons.

Andrea Letson will announce next

week's business in the chamber and

take questions from MPs. There will

be a select committee statement by

the chair of the International

development committee on the

Rohnigya crisis. There will then be

a discussion of the treatment of

small and large businesses by the

Royal Bank of Scotland. There will

then be a general debate to mark

Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 which

will take place on Saturday 27th of

January. Join me for a round-up of

the day in both Houses of Parliament

at 11 o'clock tonight. First we have

questions to the Transport Secretary

Chris Gayle Grayling and his team of

ministers.

Order, order, questions to be

Secretary of State for Transport,

Neil Gray.

In this first

parliamentary questions, the year of

engineering, I would like to put on

record my thanks to my honourable

friend, the member for safe Holland

and Blackpool North, for all of the

work they have done. The Government

wants to protect as many community

transport services as possible.

We'll be discussing the of payments

and...

I thank the Minister for the

answer. He will be a weird the

estimation is that this proposal

will cause the industry £37 million

and each driver a lot of money. The

driver is taking a sledgehammer to

crack a nut. What is the minister

say about my constituency which

provides essential committee

transport services and have no

interest in being a commercial

entity and could be lost to the

community under these plans?

I don't

recognise the description a

gentleman gives. I have been up and

down the country talking to

committee transport schemes and it's

not at all clear the implications

for local committee transport

operators has been suggested. In the

one case has been tested, it has

been referred back her evidence

gathering.

I am very grateful to the

Minister for having visited my

constituency where he saw great work

being done. He will know that the

assurance by such companies all over

the country is urgently sought. Well

any action that is proposed by the

transport Commissioner reflect upon

the consultation taking place or

will it be taking place in any

event?

The consultation will be

taking place in any event. The

details will be announced shortly. I

greatly enjoyed my visit to see your

constituency, they were a model of

good practice.

I thank the Minister.

Whilst I understand the governorate

has said it is not going to end the

arrangements, the letter they in

July of last year has caused what

the transport select committee have

said is paralysis in the

not-for-profit sector. Don't we need

clarity from the Government about

what it's intending to do so it can

demonstrate real support to the

community transport sector including

firms in my constituency?

I am

grateful to him for welcoming me to

my job, I am sorry to have not made

more of an impact on him, if not the

sector, I have been in it for a

while. He will have seen the

testimony that I and one of my

officials gave which put to rest of

the question of whether or not the

letter was inappropriate, there has

been concern. The vast majority will

be compliant. We expect it to be

successful in further concerns.

The

bid for some of their services

competitively. Those services are

cross subsidising vital community

services and they are doing exactly

what the county council urged them

to do. Can the Minister give

reassurance urgently? These are

vital services could go under and

left that uncertainty ends.

The

traffic commissioners are acting

speedily and effectively. I expect

the consultation to continue to give

through the proposed exemptions and

workarounds we have been looking at

further comfort to the sector.

Mr

Speaker, we are investing more than

£400 million in the rail network in

the south-west which includes a

fleet of brand-new trains for

services to Devon and Cornwall

entering service later this year,

transforming journeys for

passengers, we are continuing to

work with Network Rail and the

peninsular rail task force.

I

welcome the Minister to his new job.

The Waterloo to Exeter line serves

the southern part of the

constituency, it is a great rail

line and needs a second look to get

more trains into Exeter and back-up

to London. Could the Minister give

me details on what's happening with

that?

The Devon Metro proposals for

enhanced rail services in the Exeter

area include aspirations for

additional local services between

Axminster and Exeter. This is a

local scheme by Devon County Council

and we will continue to provide

assistance as they develop their

proposals.

I welcome the Minister to

his new position. The Minister will

be aware that the Government missed

the Christmas deadline for funding

the three-minute speed reduction

between Plymouth and Exeter, and

just £600,000, why did the

Government not back the south-west?

I can assure the honourable member

this is not the case and we are

looking closely at this issue and

are working on it within the

Department and Network Rail.

I

welcome the Minister to his place.

One of the key improvements that

have been made for my constituents

would be a new station. Does he

share the enthusiasm of his

predecessor about this project and

it is the perfect thing to give new

stations funding?

Idea share his

enthusiasm for this department. We

are currently investing over £40

billion an hour network including

over £15 billion on bail

enhancements as part of the biggest

real modernisation programme for

over a century.

Thank you. I welcome

the Minister to his post. I would

like to ask him if you could clarify

when the electrification programme

for the railways in the south-west,

including the chunk to Bristol, when

is it going to be an paused?

What

we're looking at is how we can

deliver the outcomes for passengers

and that's what's important, we are

delivering the same benefits more

efficiently at a lower cost to

taxpayers, faster journey times,

better trains. That's why I think

honourable members will want to

welcome the new fleet of 29 Hitachi

trains, Mr Speaker, who are going to

be serving this part of the country.

Mr Speaker, this Government is

committed to improving station

access for disabled people including

those with hidden disabilities,

further funding for an access for

all will be made available in the

next control period and we are

introducing me accessibility

commitments as part of franchises.

Whenever the industry carries an

infrastructure work at stations, it

must meet standards, I must say

thank you to the member for

Blackpool North and it legally had a

huge amount of work in accessibility

across all transports.

Thank you. As

chair of the old Parliamentary group

for disability, I have heard

accounts from people right across

the UK about lack of access to both

underground and railway stations,

how this contributes to isolation

and social exclusion from Mr. In

order to improve things as we go

forward, would the Minister kindly

agreed to come to discuss the

progress that can be made with the

all-party group going forward so

that we can work together and

collaborate?

I am aware of the

honourable member's work in the

all-party Parliamentary group for

disability, I was chair of pallet --

party Parliamentary group as well.

75% of all platforms are accessible

through steps, but there is so much

more work we need to do. All train

operated companies and Network Rail

are required to disabled people's

protection policy as part of the

licence. She was involved in

contributing to the draft

accessibility action plan, which has

a number of recommendations, and I

look forward to meeting with her and

making sure those are followed

through.

Having previously chaired

the site lost grip, perhaps the

Minister would recognise guide dogs,

across Europe, a quality disability

training is standard for bus drivers

since 2013. The UK's opt out runs

out on March one. I asked about this

last week and the fact the Minister

knew nothing about it didn't sound

terribly good for an

interdepartmental working. Maybe she

could tell me, will the UK meet the

deadline will this be another loss

from Brexit?

At present, bus drivers

have to undertake licensing training

to make sure they are aware to deal

with people with visible

disabilities, as well as those in

visible disabilities such as site

lost, and drivers are unable to have

the competency certificates without

that training. I will make sure that

is undertaken at local authority

level. If there is a gap, I am happy

to meet with the member to make sure

that is followed up.

I take a

journey on our line service with a

person who is a wheelchair user, a

disabled person using a wheelchair.

To demonstrate how inconvenient it's

going to be when the Victoria line

is removed in the new franchise,

when she has to change at Lewisham.

It is incredibly inconvenient, she

said she wouldn't undertake that

journey in future. If the right we

are designing disabled people out of

a real service and will she implore

her colleagues to change their mind?

He is right to raise this. It isn't

acceptable, but I believe it's going

to be addressed later on down the

line at Charing Cross. If I refer to

my earlier response, all train

operating companies have to comply

with disabled people's protection

policy and if they are unable to, we

have to provide alternative

transport whether it is through an

accessible taxi to do next stations

in the passenger to use, if we have

a particular case I am with unhappy

to follow that up. -- more than

happy.

He will be pleased to hear that

because of greater awareness and

ease of access and compensation,

passengers have received twice as

much compensation as they did in

2016-2017.

Thank you, and I

apologise to arriving late due to

train delays. In the East of England

we're looking forward to our

sparkling new trains arriving next

year, but in the meantime we face

delays, and when we have them,

people should be compensated. Could

the Minister possibly look at

issues, for example, when trains are

overcrowded and you have to get the

next one, often trains cancelled and

see if we can find some technical

improvement.

I am glad she welcomes

the new trains. Passengers can look

forward to a complete fleet

replacement with over 1000 new

carriages by the end of 2020,

meaning passengers will travel on

longer and more regular trains.

The

problems described in Chelmsford are

the same as my constituents have

been experiencing on Northern Rail.

I am pleased for compensation system

recognising delays may be short but

repeated, and the trains are often

overcrowded so they cannot get on

them. The Minister take this up

directly with Northern Rail, since

my own meetings have produced no

progress?

That is why it is so

important that trains are being

extended and replaced. The crucial

thing is where there are delays,

passengers are now more aware of and

have easier access to compensation

schemes. Across the system, or over

£73 million was paid in compensation

last year, an increase of almost 64%

in the previous year.

The

compensation scheme works upon the

basis that delays are an exception

rather than the rule. Will the

Minister sit down with me or perhaps

follow me on Twitter, so he can see

the messages I have had every day

since work was resumed after the

holidays on South East trains, with

delays and disruption, every day on

every line.

I obviously share his

concerns and sympathise with the

experience of his constituents in

Bromley and Chislehurst and other

constituents in the area. The

south-eastern service is one of the

most congested in the country and

has been vulnerable on

infrastructure changes.

Compensation

arrangements have to work, so could

you outline further if you believe

the compensation system can be

streamlined and can be accessible as

well?

Passengers are accessing

compensation schemes more easily

than ever before, which is reflected

in the greater take-up of

compensation payments, which is

growing at a far faster rate than

any delays in services passengers

are experiencing. We continue to

work with operators to ensure this

becomes easier for passengers to

access, and we will look carefully

at this in the next franchise

renewals process.

The Transport

Secretary, Chris Grayling.

The

private sector has generated £6

billion of investment over the past

decade, providing new trains,

upgrading stations and transforming

passenger experience.

Could I thank

him for the answer. The irony will

not be lost on him that

public-sector satisfaction is

declining. What discussions has his

department had with Network Rail to

change procurement and design

practices?

We have announced the

biggest investment programme in our

railways over the period 2019-2024,

but we have experienced since the

steam age, including £20 billion of

renewals. We talk about train

delays, and one of the reasons is

because the infrastructure in many

places needs renewal, which is why

we are spending 20 billion on it. It

is also important to bring

additional private finance alongside

the investment, and I have been

discussing with Network Rail how to

make that happen.

The private sector

can only bring investment if he

knows what the government's plans

are going to be. So could he tell me

know what the latest government

position is on the electrification

of the trans-Pennine line?

I

received the Probert -- proposals

for Network Rail, and my aim is we

will start the £3 billion upgrade

within a matter of months, the

project is due to get underway next

year. We're looking at different

options but electrification will be

part the programme.

Up until 1992,

when the only investment in railways

was the public sector, the fact was

that rail usage was declining. Since

privatisation we have seen a massive

increase in the amount of people

using railways. Doesn't he agree

that is because of the private

sector and the changes the private

sector brought in?

I absolutely

agree and the thing I do not

understand about the policy adopted

by the party opposite is we are

seeing the construction of thousands

and thousands of new carriages

funded by the private sector which

will get rid of some of the legacy

trains at British Rail days, which

were not up to scratch then or now,

that is because biggest private

money coming in alongside our

investment programme.

The real

question for the Secretary of State

is, does he have the political will

to make sure there is money

available to invest in Northern Rail

in his generation -- this

generation, not tomorrow, today?

The

answer is clearly yes because every

train in the north of in the wind is

being replaced or refurbished as

new. All the old Pacer trains are

going, and we're about to start the

trans-Pennine upgrade, which will be

one third of the total funding

available for enhancements of the

railway between 2099th 2024, which

is large investment programme.

With

the sad demise of Correlli, will he

confirm that he has carried out a

full review of the HS2 project,

including the business case that

private sector companies have the

capacity to deliver this project

without serious extra costs to the

taxpayer? -- with the demise of

Carillion.

With the demise of

Carillion, tragic event for this

country and corporate Britain, it

will not affect the HS2 project. It

is a three party consortium, and the

other two companies are taking over

responsibility for the projects,

apprenticeships and staff are being

transferred, the project will

continue uninterrupted. Thank you.

I

asked the Secretary of State on the

17th of July, the day that Carillion

were confirmed in the HS2 contract

the financial stability of the

company. He declared himself

confident that the expected results

would be delivered. Given the

unfolding events of the last few

days, as he now reflected and does

he now accept he got it

spectacularly wrong and that his

judgment and confidence were

disastrously misplaced?

I do not

accept that at all. I have reviewed

carefully, and I referred to those

contracting, and the HS2 project

will not be affected by this, even

to the point where I am pleased to

be able to say that the apprentices

working with Carillion on the

project so far as simply being

transferred to one of the other two

partners. The work will continue

uninterrupted, no delay, and no cost

implications.

On Monday, The Times

newspaper said the Transport

Secretary's decision to award

lucrative contracts to an ailing

Carillion is only the latest

worrying misjudgement to come to

light. It highlighted his trip to

Qatar on the day of the biggest rail

fare hike in years. And also his

dysfunctional dealings with trade

unions and the private sector,

saying the Prime Minister needs to

consider whether it is time that

this Transport Secretary left the

station. Hasn't The Times got it

absolutely right?

The only station I

will be leaving is Euston station

this morning on a visit to the

Midlands. What I would say to him is

that there has been no £2 billion

bailout of Virgin Trains East Coast,

that the contracting with Carillion

was not with them but what a

consortium of companies who are

equally responsible for delivering

the contract, and I am very happy to

stand here to defend the record of a

government that has done more for

the transport system in decades, in

sharp contrast with what the party

opposite did over 30 years in

government, which was very little

indeed.

Question six. Oh, not

question number six!

Figures show a

significant increase, totalling £1.7

billion in 2016-17. £2 billion

investment on the road network in

the South. Apologies.

I very much

welcome the funding commitment to

the notorious road in my

constituency, and I am pleased local

concerns were listened to, for a new

consultation, which opened this week

with three proposals. But I would

like to seek assurances that this

upgrade will not only deliver

strongly by strategically, it will

deliver for a local people and

productivity in Taunton.

The Stu

roads are crucial part of the

investment in the West Country, or

bring in new corded for people

travelling to the south-west, but

they have to work and I can give her

my assurance that I will work with

her to make sure the project

delivers for the region and

nationally.

Is some evidence that

trains from Paddington to Bristol

onwards are much better, less

crowded, more reliable. But to get

from the south-west to the Midlands

at the moment, you face delays,

overcrowded trains, and they are

very unreliable.

Will he put funding

into those lines? I am aware of the

congestion problems. We will be

re-electing the franchise shortly,

and one of the things I want to see

is longer trains with more capacity.

All of us who travel from time to

time now that those strains are too

short for the loads carried, and we

need to find a way to sort it out.

Cramped trains even outside the

services are increasingly the norm

for my constituents, on top of

delays and cancellations. Cross

country need to raise the game, does

my honourable friend agree?

I do

agree, and it is a question across

the country of making sure we have

longer trains for the future. It is

what the private sector is

delivering, and it needs to happen

on cross-country trains as well.

On

the issue of funding, Cardiff

Central rail station, the deadliest

in Wales, is in need of -- the

busiest in Wales, is in need of

funding. The project can only go

ahead if there is also UK funding.

When will that be confirmed? The

important thing about Cardiff

Central is the refuge -- there is a

huge development taking place, and I

have met developers and local

politicians, and what I want to see

there is what I want to see in other

parts, which is an integration of

stations element, with commercial

development. This should be an

integration project.

Highways

England are making good progress

with upgrades on the corridor to

improve links to Medway Kent.

Given

the impressive growth and

regeneration Medway has seen over

the past 20 years and will continue

to see, I thank the government for

the £6 billion Euro Thames crossing.

Can he confirm that the programme

will go with that, so areas like

Medway can benefit fully?

The lower

Thames crossing is a transformation

with enormous benefits, and we

announced... On the local transport

said, it is worth noting that the

south-west has committed £600

million, supporting around 30

transport schemes in Kent and

Medway, ensuring continued economic

growth.

One of the big investment is

announced for the South East is the

Oxford or Cambridge Expressway going

through Botley in my constituency.

The people in my constituency are

very worried. Could I invite him to

come to Botley to meet the residents

and lay there are concerns about

possible bulldozing of houses?

I would be delighted to come and

meet the residents and discuss these

concerns.

Last week in my

constituency there was a horrific

crash when a car ran into a parked

lorry. Three men have died and one

is seriously injured. I am not

contributing blame, we don't know

what happened, but the Minister will

note that lorry parking is a

long-running problem in my area of

Kent. Will he meet with me and

representatives of Kent County

Council and drivers in lorry parks

to see what we can do to speed up

the provision of increased lorry

parking?

I am very sorry to hear the

news and information about the crash

last week. Of course I would be

delighted as always to meet her and

Kent County Council, this issue is a

topic of great interest to me and

the Department. I met with freight

operators this week to discuss those

issues.

I will answer this question

together with question 22. Real

passenger journeys have more than

doubled in the past 20 years and

journey numbers are at their highest

levels since the 1920s.

Journeys on

the Thames Link, Southern and great

Northern franchise fell last year

for the first time as commuters

shunned its shoddy services. The

management contract means the state

has to shoulder in £19 million loss

as a result and passenger numbers

are starting to fall across the

country. If the franchise model

sustainable if this continues?

Passengers are switching away from

using traditional season tickets to

using pay-as-you-go travel and

choosing a more flexible ticket

option to suit their lifestyle,

changing travel behaviour may mean

that historical assumptions on the

number of journeys taken per season

ticket are no longer appropriate.

Although it has decreased recently,

it doesn't mean fewer people are

using the railway network.

Violent

attacks on trains have risen 12.5%

in the last year and sexual offences

on trains have doubled in the last

five years. It reported in 2014 said

the most important factor identified

by passenger was personal security

on the train. ScotRail has done

similar, when will the Secretary of

State take responsibility for

passenger safety on trains?

What I

can say to the honourable member is

the introduction of new trains

across the entire network, many

which will have CCTV will play a

significant part in ensuring

passengers can continue to travel

safely.

There is a direct links

between competition on the line,

usage and low were fierce. With

electrification, which is very

welcome and grateful to ministers

for making that happen, will be look

at options around extending Thames

Link to Corby?

Of course, I would be

very happy to discuss that proposal

with my honourable friend, and

education can play a part improving

passenger experience and reducing

journey times and it's one of the

things the Department continues to

at closely.

What other things to

train people from using the

railways? The wintry weather we have

had over the last few days, it is

the failure of Northern Rail to

properly correct some of the

stations on the route, particularly

cross flats in my constituency

making it a hazard for any passenger

who wants to use that station. Is

there anything the Minister can do

to interview with Northern Rail to

make sure the properly gripped the

stations on the route so that people

who use the railways can go about

safely doing so?

I thank my

honourable friend his suggestions,

we continue to work closely with

Network Rail to ensure the impact of

severe weather on the system is

minimised and this includes the

road, the rail and the aviation

system whatever the weather.

The

honourable member first Shipley had

a substantial supply of grit all his

own.

My constituents can barely get

a seat on the train, but this month

they have had to shoulder the

biggest fare increases in the

country. Can the Minister tell me

how projects like this will benefit

passengers in northern towns like

mind?

It is northern towns like hers

that are going to be some of the

principal beneficiaries of the

replaced train fleet across the

country, passengers and her

constituency will have improved

services, more reliable and safe

services and more punctual.

Question

number nine, Mr Speaker.

Thank you.

The Government is very committed to

the northern powerhouse and to

giving the great towns and cities of

the north of England more say over

transport investment through

transport for the north. We have

spent over £13 billion to transform

transport across the region, the

biggest investment of its kind in

the region for a generation.

The

commencement of regional flights

from Carlisle hopefully later this

year will be welcome to my

constituents. But will his

department look at ways to add

additional services and to make it

faster to reach central London from

Southend?

I share his pleasure at

the potential expansion of air

services there as elsewhere in the

country. He should be aware that

there is services provided the

Southend and London, and the entire

franchise fleet will be renewed with

over 1000 state-of-the-art vehicles.

That combined with a significant

timetable changes should mean that

Greater Anglia is able to offer

quicker, super journeys with reduced

journey times across the whole

franchise by something like 10%.

Is

it not the case that if the

Government had given the £2 billion

bailout to the operators of the east

coast line they would have had

sufficient money to fund every

single education scheme that has

been cancelled, including the

Midland mainline and have funds left

over?

There has been no bailout. I

noticed that the members opposite

are happy to put from the Times, the

Secretary of State responded to this

editorial piece with a letter of his

own would set out the position of

which there has been no bailout of

any kind.

Thank you. There is a

north beyond the Northern

powerhouse, it is called Scotland.

In general, in order to deliver

high-quality reliable real services,

funding needs to be based in what

they need of the sector is. Take

account of future growth, the size

of the network and essential

maintenance, does the Minister agree

with these principles?

I would share

his commitment to the impact that

the north goes beyond northern

powerhouse itself and I entirely a

chorus agree with him about bad,

that is why the Government is

involved with the borderlands growth

deal, precisely the point of which

is to work with local authorities on

both sides of the border and the

high-level proposition of the UK to

the Scottish Government have been

committed last year. We will

continue to work on that and

continue to invest in roads

alongside that process to the extent

that we can.

In terms of the

principles I was trying to lay out,

Scotland has got 70% of the UK

network in terms of rail, but is

only allocated 10.4% of the UK

spent. The Government regulator,

they have stated 1.9 billion is

needed for a essential repairs and

2.3 billion to meet future demand.

Why was the funding formula cut and

the experts ignored leaving Scotland

a £600 million shortfall?

There has

been a fiscal settlement which has

changed over time, very much with

the consultation and support of the

Scottish Government. Any changes to

UK funding in England will be

followed by the impact in Scotland.

Investment doesn't seem to be

working that well. The Carillion

staff working on the Manchester,

Bolton, Preston let occasion project

had their contract suspended this

week. Can the Minister clarify, if

all these workers should only expect

the job centre, the Prime Minister

said yesterday, I can he guarantee

these works and all similar

infrastructure undertakings will

continue to completion with the

current workforce, apprentices,

supply chain and project plan?

This

Government has made clear anyone

turning up to work on those schemes

through subcontractors will continue

to be paid in the normal way, it is

important to get that message out

there and not to spread

misinformation and misunderstanding.

Thank you. The problem with the

Minister's reply is that the

vultures are already circling over

the Carillion contract carcasses,

which will place these projects into

future risk, not least as companies

like interservice mighty have had

profit warnings served the last six

months. What due diligence has he

instructed officials to undertake of

all contractors and will he end his

speculation by taking these

contracts back in-house?

She would

know that there is almost no

exposure to the rail sector to the

companies she mentions. The fact of

the matter is that these contracts

have been in many cases reinforced,

certainly on the road side, on the

road side, you have joint-venture

partners who had jointly obliged to

pick up these obligations and will

do so. Thank you. In September, we

published our response. I will take

this question a. We published a

response to the consultation about

the renewable transport fuel

obligation is order, to maybe 2020

target and reduce carbon emissions.

A draft statutory implementing these

proposals was laid before Parliament

on the 15th of January and subject

to parliamentary approval, this

legislation will increase targets

for the supply of renewable fuels

from April 20 18.

Progress on the IT

SO is positive. If the Government

ready to introduce e-10 petrol,

already available in France, Germany

and Finland? It will have the effect

of helping the UK's industry, an

important employer in the Teesside.

I am aware of the fact it is an

important employer and is a matter

of concern to ministers it in the

back continues... I met with his

constituency in November and we have

had close concert physicians with

them. -- close conversations with

them. The ITF and encourages those

suppliers to use the most effective

solution, our analysis suggests that

we may not be required to meet the

target but it is an attractive

option for suppliers.

I barely's

hybrid buses are a plus for the

Oxbridge Road, but they are

cancelled out by diesel vehicles,

not only polluting the lines of my

constituents but all over the

country. Surely the Government

should be doing more to encourage

best procurement practice and read

our roads of dirty diesel.

The

Government is investing hugely in

support for electric vehicles and an

improvement to the equality across

cities and other regions of the

country. It is very much mitigating

the views of diesel cars.

Seal

providers have stated they require

Government mandate to introduce fuel

to avoid a breach of competition

law. Will he be considered the

possibility of mandating E10 fuel,

and if not we'll his lawyers work

with fuel providers to overcome

this?

I thank the gentleman for his

comment. We continue to discuss

those with suppliers. I would say is

in other countries across the EU,

there has been no such mandate, and

there are nevertheless has been

significant take-up.

Mr Speaker, my

honourable friend knows full well I

understand the difficulties his

constituents have faced. I hope you

will accept the performance have

improved since the height of

industrial action. We have had

arrangement in place including

special arrangements. We have taken

steps forward with the

fermentation...

On the second

December, seven passengers have

suffered from existing disruption to

the journeys during 26 to and

offered a very welcome conversation

to ticket season holders. Some

passengers have suffered from

disruption during 2017 as well. The

figures on punctuality are even

worse. When are we going to seek

compensation for my constituents

this year?

There are compensation

measures in place now. The issue is

now facing this network are all to

do with the infrastructure. We have

just announced two major closures to

allowed upgrade works to take place.

I hope it will make a significant

difference going forward.

Bedford

commuters will lose their fight peak

services in May. Many don't know how

people balance work with childcare

but does the Minister agree with me

that Stagecoach should compensate

these people? They have borne the

pain of the delays to the network.

I

can't promise, I wish I could, I

can't promise of change disruption

as a result of major investment

programmes. There will be an interim

period rivers changes to services.

There will be more seats from

Bedford in the peak hours and many

of the East Midlands Trains arriving

are already full. I regret the fact

we have to inconvenience passengers,

but we can't upgrade and improve the

network without taking difficult

decisions.

I will answer this question together

with 15 and 16. The estimated number

of passengers in the last three

years is as follows. 2014-15, four

.6 3 billion. 2015, four .1 5

billion. 2016, four .4 4 billion.

My

constituents regularly contact me

about bus use each. Is this linked

to the cut in the bus budget?

When I

speak to operators, I see great

investments taking place in

technology, ticketing, and a

tremendous potential for it in the

context of the inner quality changes

to be made by the government.

Over

85% of Brits are provided by first

bus, which makes a healthy profit

every year. Under current rules they

cannot use profits to subsidise put

-- commercially unviable writs which

may be important to local people.

Why can't bus company contracts

stipulate they have to run the

services using profits from income

generating ricks, instead of letting

them pocket profits while the local

council has to foot the bill?

It is

not historically the job of

government to intervene in the

precise allocation of company

profits. The increase in journeys in

Bristol, from 32.7 million, to 39

.9. If she has proposals I would be

happy to look at them.

Could I take

this opportunity take voice my

attitudes Worker -- gratitude in the

fired in my constituency, in the

station. Many people struggle with

inaccessible bus services, and seven

years of cuts have exacerbated these

problems. Research from age UK has

found 1.5 million people over 65

found it difficult to travel to

hospital appointments and stressful,

complicated or expense of public

transport journeys lead to Mr

cancelled appointments. Has the

Minister discussed this pressing

problem with colleagues in the

Department for Health, and what does

he plan to do to address it?

I thank

her for her comments and I associate

myself with her support for the

emergency services in relation to

the incident in Nottingham. In many

ways the concessionary fares scheme

has been a colossal success, as she

will be aware. Something like 12

million people have concessionary

permits in this country, and they

make enormous journeys -- numbers of

journeys every year, supported by

government.

Government cuts have led

to the axing or downgrading of 400

bus trips in passenger numbers,

which are now at a 10-year low. Will

he reinstate the cuts, or if he is

unwilling to do so, will he give the

councils the power they need?

I

welcome and thank him for the

question. These services are

deregulated, in many cases the

operated by local authorities which

received substantial funding from

central government, and we expect

them to deploy the money how they

see fit.

The Civil Aviation Authority keep

such matters under review, and today

announced they will be issuing class

one medical certificates with a

restriction to applicants wanting to

become commercial pilots wear this

is required for safety purposes.

My

constituent was denied his pilot

licence because he is HIV positive.

I'm not sure what the answer means,

but I hope it means he will meet

with the CEA to stop them passing

the buck and let this pilot flying.

To reassure the gentleman, it means

the rules are being changed today,

and while I cannot give a certain

outcome to an individual case, this

will mean people who suffer from

conditions that have made it

difficult for them to become

commercial pilots will find it

easier to do so as the Civil

Aviation Authority take a more

sensible approach.

Topical

questions. Priti Patel.

If I can

make three points, firstly can I

echo the comments of the Member for

Nottingham South about the emergency

services and the response last week.

Could I pay tribute to all of those

who did work across the rail network

over Christmas, giving up their

holiday period for the investment

programme, and can I also say I am

proud to be a party of opportunity,

providing the country with its first

woman Prime Minister, and today we

provide the first Muslim Women's

Network Nestor to speak from a

government dispatch box, the Member

for wielding. I'm very proud to sit

alongside her today.

Essex adds...

Businesses that want to grow cannot

because of poor transport

infrastructure. Will he help those

businesses by committing to back the

key projects such as the A 12?

We

are investing across the country.

Highways England is progressing

these letter a 12 improvements,

going across the design stages, and

on the railways there are a number

of improvements required to the

eastern mainline. This is one of

those under consideration.

Does he

agree that -- in transport for the

North in their draft transport plan

that there is an economic case for

Bradford being involved?

We're

studying them very closely, the

report that has been put in, and we

will look at the scheme alongside

others.

Is the Secretary of State

aware that in West Norfolk we have

an active red dog through it who

took me on a blindfold walk, which

was a very moving experience, and

brought home to me the number of

obstacles facing blind people, for

example unauthorised cars on

pavements. What is the situation

with accessibility action plan?

They

thank the Member for bringing the

guide dogs group to the House, the

government is committed to ensuring

disabled people have the same access

and opportunities to travel as

everyone else. The Department for

Transport is analysing the responses

received in the action plan, and I

will publish the response in the

spring. The final plan will also set

out the ten skills for delivery.

The

virgin East Coast franchise promises

to run trains every two hours from

London to Bradford, Harrogate and

Middlesbrough, do they still hold

good or have they been scaled back?

There has been no change to any part

of the terms of the franchise, it is

business as usual. I have set out

the challenges, but nothing has

changed at all.

Would the new rail

minister be kind enough to agree to

meet the catering rail users group

to discuss how real services may be

used in Kettering?

I would be

delighted to meet representatives

and my honourable friend. We have

the Greenock Ocean terminal from

which goods are imported and

exported across the world. What

assurances can he give me that

Brexit will not adversely affect the

transportation of goods by --

oversee?

I understand the importance

of the future of the maritime sector

and I have had the pleasure of

visiting Montrose to see the

important work it does for Scotland.

The maritime sector, while it is not

often the highest profile, it is

enormously important to the country.

An army of rail engineers worked

over Christmas, will he join me in

congratulating and thanking them for

this?

I think we often fail to

appreciate the heaven army of

people, and those who did the work

over the Christmas period deserve

our thanks. If you look at the work,

whether it is the improvement of the

north-west or the work at London

Bridge, we are seeing huge

investment programmes making a

difference to the passenger

experience.

Yesterday 5000 lorries

were forced from Felixstowe to take

two hours each getting through

Ipswich. Will the Secretary of State

urgently meet with myself and local

MPs to expedite a northern bypass

for Ipswich?

I will meet him and

colleagues on this. The Department

for Transport award £76 million in

2016 for the crossings, and that

scheme was one of the large ones to

be funded. We will happily revisit

any discussion he wishes to have.

Will he recognise many hospitals do

not have good public transport links

around the country? And for that

reason will he write to the Health

Secretary urging him to scrap car

parking charges?

Is he will know, my

first debate I have called in the

House of Commons was on car parking

charges at Hereford Hospital.

Could

he faced the House so everyone can

hear?

Apologies, I absolutely

understand his concern. It has been

the legacy of the Labour

Government's PFI projects in the

period up until 2010, so I share his

concern.

The head of US aviation

stated the US government had a month

to outline an aviation safety

strategy or be faced with costly

disruption to Trans what progress

has he made on US aviation strategy

post Brexit?

I have had meetings

with US airlines, US aviation

authority, and I have discussed

issues with my counterpart in the US

Department for Transport Asian. We

are making good progress with

arrangements for radiation.

On what

evidence is the government now

pushing ahead with a

flawed... -- the counterpart in the

US Department for Transport.

I know

how strongly she feels about this.

We have had many conversations and I

know we will carry on doing so. We

do not share the same view, I

believe the project is strategically

important for the United Kingdom,

but I am happy to continue

discussing it.

I was disappointed

recently with the publication from

the Department for Transport for A

roads did not even mention a

connection to Eastbourne. Can he

confirm that was an oversight and

that the road will be turned into a

dual carriageway?

You will know his

predecessors secured an equipment to

use funding allocated for

improvements to the letter a 27, and

I look forward to seeing this.

With

the initial consultation open on

shaping the future for England's

strategic roads, can he confirm the

Secretary of State will look closely

at the vital upgrade of Junction 15

of the M6, Stoke-on-Trent.

If that

scheme is given the enthusiastic

support of the local transport

authorities involved, we will look

closely at it, as we would with all

such situations.

And the Secretary

of State said what discussions he

has had with the European Commission

about participating in the open

skies agreement after Brexit?

We had

two jobs to do for aviation post

Brexit, one is to conclude

negotiations within the European

Union, and the other is negotiating

successful it arrangements and

successful agreements around the

world.

These are being worked on. On

the east Coast Main line, rather

than taking us to the bad old days

of British Rail, as the party

opposite would do, would he consider

instead a market authority

recommendations, offering a far

better in quality and cost of rail

services?

Those who live in

Sunderland, Bradford, they wouldn't

say anything except it has been a

good thing.

The Severn Bridge is

coming into public ownership on the

8th of January, would he meet with

me to discuss future operations of

the bridges, including abolishing

the tolls after the campaign?

I am

sure the member will welcome the

news, it is this government that

will abolish these tolls. It will

open the area to more economic

opportunity, and I am happy to meet

the member to discuss anything

further.

At a recent meeting with

senior HS2 personnel, the promised

to provide advance notice of

construction work. They have not

done this. Will the Secretary of

State ensure they keep their

promises?

I absolutely will. I

expect HS2 to be good corporate

citizens as they embark on this. I

would invite all members to come to

me and my honourable friend for

wielding, we want to make sure where

this is human -- with this humanly

possible to do so... The bus

services act has created those

powers and we're in conversations

with the mayor in Manchester and

elsewhere in the country, and remain

very interested in having further

conversations with players who wish

to avail themselves of the powers.

When can we expect a

decision so far his department is

unable to say when we get a

decision.

I will seek to speed

things up.

I will seek to make sure the process

is concluded as quickly as possible.

Will the government work with

businesses that supply to see what

the impact of the renewable

transport fuel obligation is on them

and to continue to look to

May I welcome the new minister to

her place and take this opportunity

to make a plea for my constituents

who are affected by this review, and

also the way in which HS2 Ltd is

administering this process?

The

member has raised this with me

previously and I am pleased she has

raised this with me again today and

I am pleased to meet the her and

take on board any concern she has.

About taking musical instruments

onto aeroplanes, and in his

discussions about aviation, will he

meet with the Culture Secretary and

see how we can solve this real

problem for musicians?

The hand

luggage policy of an airline is

theirs, but I am happy for us to

have a discussion with him about the

issue. There may not be a simple

solution but I am more than happy to

talk on a board members about the

challenges they face.

I congratulate

my honourable friend on her

appointment following her review of

the accessibility to stations. Would

you look carefully at the hundreds

of applications there have been

forced and more and can spark

stations which have not been

provided by Transport for London but

hopefully will be provided by the

government?

I thank him for

welcoming me to the dispatch box

today and of course I will meet with

him to discuss this further and I

look forward to arrange in that

meeting.

The Minister may be aware

of an ongoing issue might

constituency in relation to the

level crossing that will be improved

because of the cancellation of

electrification. I asked for the

previous Minister, so will she now

meet with me to start the process of

closing this level crossing?

The

decisions on electrification do not

and will not in any way impede

safety improvements and we have

large amounts of money in the next

five years put to that. I will see

what we can do to me that rapidly.

A

short question is required.

Sir

Desmond Swain. Is there an end to

end three night closures?

They are a

night closures because of the

production being offered to daytime

running. The upgrade of the

junctions has already taken place,

to have an poor are already

complete, junction 62 to complete

soon, junctions nine - 14 are

planned.

The previous real Minister

agreed to meet with the two discuss

reopening the railway line to plead

with. Will the new minister on about

and get to put back on track?

I am

very happy to honour that

commitment.

Mr Speaker, 2018 is the

year of engineering. Can I ask the

new minister as to what the

government is doing to increase

diversity within the engineering

profession?

I feel obliged to be

responding to a fellow Brummie. I

want to congratulate the engineering

envoy who I believe is sitting

upstairs today. The government has

indeed launched a year of

engineering. I did that myself on

Monday at Crossrail. We are

particularly keen to open up

engineering as a career for young

girls and boys, especially those

from black, Asian and ethnic

minorities. I urge members of the

size to become ambassadors if they

haven't already.

The environmental

impact assessment of the

government's decision not to

electrify the Midland mainline north

of capturing received 25% of savings

in carbon emissions would have been

achieved by doing that. Will they

think again about the decision?

I

expect the transformation of

technology over the coming years

with the introduction of different

types of battery