Transport Questions House of Commons

and will be a debate remark were

pockmarked and stay. Don't forget to

join me for a round-up at 11p

tonight but first, questions to

Chris Grayling and his team of

ministers.

Order! Order! Questions to the

Secretary of State for transport.

Question number one.

The Secretary

of State for transport, secretary

Chris Grayling. No, we don't

allocate funding on a per head of

population bases. We ensure spending

goes where it is most needed and

delivers greatest value for money.

You may be interested to know that

recent evaluations showed that

planned central government transport

investment over the next few years

is equally balanced with 1039 pounds

of planned spending per head in the

North compared with £1029 in the

South.

May I take this opportunity

to thank all of those who are

involved in keeping our transport

system is going in this inclement

weather. I am sure fellow Yorkshire

MPs would share my surprise at the

Secretary of State's recent

Yorkshire post article saying

spending in the North was somehow

greater in the north than the South.

Does he agree with me that spinning

figures simply won't fix our archaic

Northern Rail way systems all get

Northern commuters to work on time?

Chibok I echo the comments about

those working hard to keep transport

system open today. We are very

grateful to all of them. What I

would say in a week when the Labour

Party has already had issues with

the use of statistics, she should

look at the official statistics from

the independent infrastructure

authority which show that government

spending is higher in the north van

in the South.

I'm sure we could

spend more government money on

transport in the East Midlands,

particularly Northamptonshire and

especially Kettering. The Midland

mainline's new franchises being

negotiated at the moment. Would the

gentleman make sure that Kettering's

rail services are better after that

franchises ordered now?

He is a

strong champion for Kettering. He

will be delighted that with the

expansion of capacity to Corby it

means there will be a much better

commuter service in the mornings and

evenings through Corby down to

Kettering and beyond. This is one of

the benefits that is coming from the

biggest investment in the Midland

mainline since the 1870s.

Just to

give the Secretary of State example

of equal treatment, when they rail

franchise comes to the new franchise

in 2020, is it true that because the

current carriages on HST are

disability noncompliant they will be

scrapped, the power cars will be

kept and put together with

second-hand cast of characters from

the east Coast line? So instead of a

brand-new hybrid hype whoa train we

were promised we are going to get

hybrid trains with 30-year-old para

cars and 30-year-old discarded

carriages from another line?

The

Midland mainline is going to have

brand-new trains delivered as soon

as we possibly can in the early 20

20s, years ahead of what would

otherwise have been the case on the

original scheme.

Within the context

of the idea of equity spending, I

wonder if my right honourable

friend, after this snow event is

over, would ask some serious

questions or even review why it is

that when we have an event like this

we are still not in any way, in some

cases, prepared? I discovered in

some cases that Heathrow is busy

off-loading flights because they

can't cope with it, whereas... It is

regional flights. What I am saying

to my honourable friend is, given

all of that, places like Gatwick and

other airports are able to cope.

Does he not think it is ridiculous

that in some airports they are

simply unable to cope and others in

the UK can?

Of course I know a

number of members are here today

because flights to regional airports

have been not able to go and I

expect us to be able to sort that

out today as quickly as possible,

though it is really important the

transport system is run safely. One

of the benefits of the expansion of

Heathrow airport is that that

airport will become more resilient

to difficult situations like that

whoa this week and connections will

be more reliable.

I pay tribute to

transport workers giving the system

going. In his opening comments the

Secretary of State said allocation

of funding was a fair process so can

he explain why his Government has

ignored recommendations to fund

Scotland £6 million and yet since

then, there has been a £250 billion

loss of revenue for southern rail

and found a £250 million for HS2?

His Government has been ignoring the

Scottish Government since July this

year so will he meet the Scottish

government, as there needs to be

equity funding?

Once again the SNP

is arguing against the use of the

Barnett Formula. They love the

Barnett Formula when it is

advantageous to them but when they

don't like it they want to get rid

of it. Eyes and they say to them,

this Government has followed the

principles of the Barnett Formula

but the Treasury has given Scotland

a bit more money above that so I

wish they would stop complaining.

The reality is that Scotland is now

better represented with a group of

Conservative MPs who are much more

effective than this MP ever was.

Mr

Speaker, Secretary of State's

acceptance of the Hendy review 2016

recognised necessary changes to the

Scoble great Western education and

following completion of the

feasibility assessment of the line

between Reading and Basingstoke that

has been identified that

electrification of that section is

not required to deliver improvements

to passengers.

Given my honourable

friend's commendable plan to scrap

all diesel only trains from our

tracks by 2040, would he extend whoa

consider extending cross wail to

Reading and Basingstoke as an

alternative to improve capacity into

London from Northampton?

The

department always welcomes

suggestions from my honourable

friend. There are no current plans

to extend the crossrail route and no

assessment has yet been made of the

amount or availability of any such

scheme.

Question three.

Thank you.

We have ambitious plans to

transport emissions, including

ending the sale of new conventional

petrol diesel cars and vans on the

use of diesel only trains.

Greenhouse gas emissions will be

reduced. Action to tackle hotspots

is being taken. We will be launching

a zero emissions transport paper and

the House can view that.

Can I thank

the Minister for that reply? He will

know that 24% of emissions are

transport related. You will know

there are hotspots across the

country, including in my own

constituency, and thousands of

people die prematurely as a result

of poor air quality, including 61 in

my own constituency in Gedling. How

does he intend to accelerate the

progress he has outlined to us and

the policy development in

Parliament?

We absolutely recognise

the issues he raises and I think he

will know that we will work very

closely with the department for

environment and rural affairs on

this issue. Our specific plans on

transport emissions will be released

in our report this month.

Can the

Minister assure the House that

emissions, as far as the department

is concerned, refers to both carbon

and air quality emissions in terms

of nitrogen dioxide and small

particulate matter and that that is

fully addressed together in the

department?

Yes, I can absolutely

give him that assurance. Defra is

the lead agency within government on

this but the work... Only on Monday,

in fact, we put on the statute book

the renewable transport fuel

obligation which specifically

balances the two sides of that

equation.

Oxford is proud to call

itself a cycling city, yet last week

it was identified in the High Court

ruling on air pollution as one of

the 45 cities the Government needs

to do more to help. Will pay more

money be to Oxford to help us make

that modal shift?

I'm sure she will

be aware that substantial amounts of

money have been put aside already to

help local authorities affected by

air quality problems and it is up to

Oxford to apply for that money when

it becomes available.

I do drive an

electric car but many people do not.

A northern powerhouse rail would

take many cars off the road. The

all-party group on the northern

powerhouses calling for the project

for northern powerhouse rail to be

brought forward to coincide with the

completion of HS2 in 2032. With the

Minister support that proposal? Two

is what I am always grateful for

invitations to support proposals. I

will leave that to the specific

ministers concerned but he will be

aware it is a manifesto commitment.

I am not sure I see any merits in

the early termination of the Virgin

Trains East Coast franchise and it

is not something I would like to

happen but you have to deal with the

world that is, not as you would like

be. My priority is to ensure the

continued smooth running of the East

Coast franchise first partners and

employees to make sure the trains

run and deliver the services people

need. A new arrangement to operate

this railway prior to the east coast

partnership in 2020 needs to be put

in place. We are currently

conducting a full appraisal of the

options I will return to the House

in due course.

Illuminating

information but I think the

secretary's first priority before

that is to seek to group the

question with others.

I am very

grateful. I am afraid to say that

server standards have deteriorated

on virgin stagecoach East coach. I

am a regular customer on that line

and that is despite the best efforts

of the excellent staff on board

trains and its stations. But those

staff are now facing their sixth

employer in a decade and a half.

Will he meet me and some of those

staff so they can express their

concerns about the way in which the

franchise has been conducted, and

will he give the House an

undertaking that there is a genuine

public sector operator ready to take

over should it be required, or has

Directly Operated Railways And been

outsourced already?

I can give a guarantee that has been

the case, we have been making

preparations for some considerable

time, there is a genuine alternative

Fitbit is deemed best for the

passenger and best value for the

taxpayer. I and my colleagues are

happy to talk to staff but I would

correct one point, the reality is

that the independent assessments of

passenger satisfaction that would

have shown a higher level of

passenger satisfaction since the

change of franchise, not a lower

one.

I would like to say a huge

thank you to the staff involved in

keeping the trains running. As has

been said, the current Virgin Trains

East Coast mainline franchise

agreement will end three years early

making it the third franchise

failure in around a decade, and I

wonder, as well as the people who

use the line, I don't agree with

your assessment, but will the

Secretary of State recognise that

there is a problem and see this as

the perfect opportunity to bring

those contracts back in-house?

As I

have said in his house before, I

need to do what is best for

passengers and the taxpayer. The

reality is that since the

transition, regardless of the fact

that Stagecoach got their numbers

wrong, passenger satisfaction has

risen, more people are employed by

the railway and it delivers more

body to the taxpayer. That is the

reality, they can say it is not

true, it is true and it is a fact

they have to deal with.

I can assure

the Minister and Secretary of State

that my constituency, after three

failed franchisees and the

experience of a directly operated

railway, or would much prefer the

directly operated railway. With the

Minister commit to eight directly

operated railway service?

I have

said I will do what is best for the

passenger and the taxpayer. Their

party do not seem to get this. The

reality is that passenger

satisfaction levels are higher today

than three years ago, that is what

independent research shows.

They may

not like it but it is true. Next

year Bradford will have seen a

marked increase in the number of

much-needed direct intercity trains

serving the city but the chaos with

the East Coast line has put this in

trouble. Connection to the rest of

the country is vital so will the

Minister ensure that whatever

happens to the east Coast franchise,

Bradford will see an increase in the

number of direct trains?

It is an

important point. Let's be clear, it

is my contention that whatever

arrangements are put in place for

the next three years, the service

improvements that have been promised

will be delivered. There is an issue

in relation to infrastructure and

additional capacities of the

northern part of the route which

will have to be resolved and then

maybe amendments to the timetables

but it will not stop is delivering

the services. In the case of

Bradford I expect to fulfil the

commitments made.

I would agree that

there are no merits from the early

termination of the franchise but

there are opportunities from the new

partnership. By constituency has ten

railway stations, none of which have

a direct rail service to London.

Would my right honourable friend

agree this is an opportunity to look

at providing services to those towns

not presently served?

My honourable

friend has been a regular advocate

for direct services, I would like to

see those services happen, I am

looking to see if we can maximise

capacity of the East Coast to make

additional services possible but the

arrival of HS2 will allow many of

those services that cannot be run

now because of capacity constraints

to happen because of the additional

capacity HS2 will create routes to

the north Scotland.

I am not

entirely sure what the impact of the

Virgin Trains East coast franchise

is a portion but that was the

honourable gentleman -- doubtless

the honourable gentleman is about to

explain to us.

I am absolutely going

to! Given the alternatives being

proposed I wonder if the Secretary

of State has seen the remarks by

President Obama about the

nationalised French Railways and if

he has remarks upon the?

Wisdom

sometimes come from our allies

across the Channel and I have to say

I did see those remarks and it is a

timely reminder that in nationalised

railway is not the panacea that some

think it is.

Not the warship

perspective but the international

perspective, why would I expect

anything less from someone so

illustrious as a man who served as

my constituency chairman for three

years for which he deserved a medal!

Jack Brereton.

Number five, Mr

Speaker.

I beg pardon, we have

missed frontbenchers, let's them.

Thank you, the Secretary of State

says Stagecoach got their sums wrong

but clearly the Department got their

sums wrong as well when they awarded

the contract to them. Franchise

holders should not be allowed to bid

for future franchises, does he agree

this is an opportunity to put this

franchise into the public sector and

allow further public sector

involvement across all franchises to

improve and review the franchise

tender process?

We certainly keep

the franchise process under

continual review to work to improve

it but as I said a moment ago,

public railway is not the panacea

everyone claims it is bad side. What

I would say also, I intend to take

the right decisions for the taxpayer

and travelling public root, that is

imported, and I intend to act within

the law, which is also important.

On

Monday the chief executive of

Stagecoach said that he knew there

was a problem with the East Coast

franchise finances weeks after

taking over the contract in March

2015 and had been talking to the

Department about it but two years.

Why didn't the Secretary of State

put together a contingency plan for

the route given that his department

was in dialogue with the operator

over the difficulties? The Secretary

of State had two years to sort this

mess out and is that it simply

incredible but he still does not

know what to do?

I have not been

Secretary of State for two years but

let's be clear, we have been

planning, I have been Secretary of

State of 18 months, Mr Speaker, he

cannot do his sons. Since I became

aware there was a problem on the

route, we have been doing

contingency planning so we have a

long-term plan for the route and

short-term options but you cannot

put though short-term options into

place until the appropriate moment

arrives when they are necessary and

we are prepared for the moment when

it arises and will deal with the

alternatives.

Given that the

taxpayer has already lost out on

over £2 billion of premium payments,

can the Secretary of State ad buys

the house whether the financial

ramifications of the termination of

the franchise are now completely

known and concluded? In the

alternative, what about your body is

earmarked to settle further assist

in gay big demands through

litigation or arbitration?

Again,

the Labour Party cannot do it sums.

We have written off £2 billion a

body, they wrote of £1.4 billion

when National Express collapsed.

Whatever happens, this railway will

continue to generate a substantial

return for the taxpayer and it is

time they did the sums properly

rather than misrepresenting the

reality.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I

know the Member for Stoke-on-Trent

South is concerned about the impact

of traffic in his constituency, we

discussed it when he came to the

department just last week. HS2

Limited are already working with

high with England and local highways

authorities to mitigate the effect

of construction traffic and will

continue to do so as the bill

progresses. The planning regime

established under the bill includes

powers for local planning

authorities to improve final

construction routes for large goods

vehicles. We will work closely with

the authorities to make sure impacts

on communities and traffic are

appropriate.

I thank the Minister

for the response. Could she update

the house of the measures to be put

in place to tackle and mitigate the

impact of traffic particularly

affecting junction 15 of the M6 from

construction of phase 2A?

We

recognise the need to keep traffic

moving the residents and businesses.

Income advance, junction 15 of the

M6 is an important access route for

HS2 construction traffic. We

recognise it is an important access

route for the Stoke-on-Trent area.

HS2 Limited are working closely with

high with England to minimise the

impact of the M6 and consider any

opportunities for delivery with a

smart motorway.

Question number

seven, Mr Speaker.

Six, well done,

pretty good.

With permission, Mr

Speaker, I will answer questions six

and 12 together. The bus services

act 2017 presents local authorities

with new powers to bring about

change and unlock potential for the

bus service industry to increase

passenger numbers. Since 1982 bus

usage has fallen but is variable

across the country. Passenger

journeys on local bus services in

England have decreased 4% since

2009-2010 to 4.4 billion

4,000,000,020 16-20 17. -- 4.4

billion in 2016-2000 and 17. Does

the Minister believe there is a

correlation between cuts in bus

budget and bus usage falling to an

all-time low?

What action has been

taken to rectify this?

Bus patronage

is increasing for people who go to

work, actually, 3 million people

choose to travel to work on the bus,

60% of people who'd use public

transport use the bus. Increasing

bus patronage is at the forefront of

the Government's bus agenda, it is

vital for combating congestion and

reducing emissions. Government

provides around £1 billion of

funding for concessionary travel

every year and around £250 million

will be paid this year to support

bus services in England through the

operators' grant.

Recent devolution

deal has seen the power to

re-regulate buses by London style

franchising in areas like my own

with a metronome. How does the

Government plan to support those

retro bears that take the choice to

franchise there but bashed -- then

was that were?

Bears have the

freedom to do it and it is right

these decisions are taken locally

either with a local authority or the

man and we would encourage all local

authorities all there is to consider

how they can use these powers to

make improvements for passengers and

increase bus patronage.

Damian

Green.

The real question seven,

served.

As my right honourable

friend knows, I have asked highways

England to progress plans to promote

a lorry holding area through the

normal process as a permanent

solution to Operation Stack.

Highways England intend to undertake

public consultation in the spring to

consider the scale and scope. The

commitment to this is strong.

The

Secretary of State is aware of the

extreme urgency of finding a

solution to this. Even if we assume

full implementation period after

Brexit we could be less than two

years away from new customs

arrangements at Dover and problems

there could be disastrous not just

for roads across Kent but for the

National Road haulage industry as

well. Can he assure us that by the

time of Brexit sufficient off-road

parking spaces will be available to

avoid a recurrence of Operation

Stack?

There are two points I should

make first of all it is absolutely

the intent of the Government to

maintain a free-flowing border, that

is of paramount importance. But the

other point is to be absolutely

clear that we will have both a

solution in place by next March

which keeps the M25 ring in both

directions but also provides the

there is congestion at the ports,

but we intend to move beyond that

and deliver a long-term solution

which will not only deal with this

solution of trouble at the ports but

also respite to Kent residents who

are fed up with lorries blocking

their local roads.

80% of the road

freight to and from the UK goes

through Dover. There is surely no

realistic chance of all those

lorries being checked from March

next year. Isn't the reality that if

we leave the EU without a deal,

utter chaos of the road that work

within miles of Dover is completely

unavoidable?

It is for this country

to decide how we manage our borders,

to decide what checks we put in

place, and the Government is

committed to making sure there is a

free-flowing border at Dover, that

is something we will deliver.

Is it

his department's policies that a new

fixed lab across the channel will

help the disruption.

We have bold

visions for the future, that is the

way we plan properly for the future

in transport terms but right now our

bold vision for this country is HS2,

potential expansion of Heathrow

airport, the lower Thames crossing,

the trans-Pennine Tunnel, the 8303,

so this is a Government with lots of

big visions for Britain and is

delivering.

The chairman of Maritime UK has said

that if a deal is not reached on

Brexit, lorry drivers could be stuck

on the main roads to Dover for up to

two days but even if the deal is

reached with the hard border at

vital ferry ports, the industry is

warning that customs and Port health

checks will cause massive

disruptions so what actual concrete

assurances, Secretary of State give

us that that is not going to be the

case?

I have regular dialogue with

both the border industry and the

ports sector and that have been very

clear to them, as I am clear with

this House and the Prime Minister is

being clear, we do not intend to

impose a fixed border, we want a

free-flowing border and that is what

we will deliver.

Secretary of State.

All franchise operators are required

to obtain a pre-follicle --

prequalification passport to adopt

the department may withdraw it in

the event that the passport

holder... This would prevent the

franchise holder from Billington

franchise competitions.

I take it

from Matt that it is possible for

the Secretary of State to disallow

an incumbent... Can he remove GoVia

from the Thameslink service? If not

what guarantees are there that my

constituents will get the service

they deserve?

We will accept the

outcome that will deliver the best

possible service for his

constituents. This is a competitive

process. I will not hesitate to

remove a passport from a firm that

requires that happened. I also

operate within European recruitment

law -- procurement law, and that

requires us to take a proportionate

approach and I will always seek to

do that and operate within the law.

Bastia no fewer than 67 million rail

journeys were cancelled or severely

curtailed and as I raised with the

Prime Minister yesterday, most of

the compensation was trousered by

rail operating companies so when

they bid to renew their franchises

will the way they have treated their

customers with compensation be a key

consideration, as it should be?

He

is right that we need to make sure

passengers get the compensation

payments they are entitled to. The

compensation structure is far more

complex than those that have been

highlighted in the media in recent

days but I'm very clear that the

move we are going through this year

to provide digital ticketing across

the whole network will make it much

more straightforward to give

passengers the compensation they

deserve and need and to do so simply

without having to fill in

complicated forms.

The estimates

report was very revealing, showing

how hundreds of millions of pounds

are being spent on compensation,

underwriting failure and bailouts.

In CP four alone, a staggering 39.4

million of public money and

constituents' money was handed over

to private operators, while

passengers were forced to pay over

the to travel. How much more public

money will be passed to these failed

rail operators? What the party

opposite fail to understand - less

than £3 in every £100 that is spent

on the railways remains with the

companies. The rest is going into

the biggest infrastructure

programme, better services, new

trains. Improvements that people

could only dream of in 13 years of

labour but pro-government but which

they are getting under the

Conservatives.

That is certainly no apology to our

constituents. Is lack of due

diligence has caused chief executive

David Brown of the embattled

southern rail fame to announce he

has done and, expletive deleted,

good job and he will bid again for

the next franchise contracts. Virgin

and Stagecoach will do the same.

These companies are on a huge gravy

train at the expense of taxpayers so

why is the Secretary of State being

held to ransom and even prepared to

consider rewarding their failure?

When she talks about a private gravy

train, I would encourage her to go

and look at the conversation that

the French prime minister had about

his state railway. Use of the

dilapidated network, delays, abysmal

debt... The situation is alarming,

not to say untenable. The French pay

more and more for a public service

that pays less and less well. So

what I would stay to her

constituents is that I'm delighted

that the people of York are going to

see every single train that serves

their station replaced as new or

with brand-new trains over the next

12 to 18 months, a change they

haven't seen for decades.

During the

franchise process, business cases

got a lot of focus. The Virgin

Trains East Coast contact was

mentioned earlier. Being a member of

the Public Accounts Committee and

present about hearing, I can say

that the franchisee Holder said that

although the figures were not what

he was expecting, they were not an

insurmountable barrier to the

franchise working and he quoted the

Scottish referendum and Brexit and a

declining trend of passenger figures

as a real reason why the franchise

failed. Can I asked my right

vulnerable friend that when

franchises across the country are

being looked at in the future, he

encourages companies to take a broad

range of dynamic scenario planning

so they get accurate figures?

He

makes an important point and what I

would say is that we are now

migrating to franchise systems that

are much more focused on quality. It

is my view that the quality of

service will drive revenues as much

as anything else. We will see a very

different approach where we don't

necessarily take the highest bid but

are looking for high-quality and the

bits and looking to be prudent about

the mechanisms so this doesn't

happen again.

Since becoming road

safety minister I have met several

times with the honourable gentleman

and often with the broad range of

road safety organisations. Those

institutions include RoSPA, the

RSPCA and others.

I come say he is

keenly interested in this subject

but isn't it still that there are

1720 knocks on the door where a

police man or woman knocks on the

door and says, "Your daughter, son,

mum, dad, grandfather, are dead".

That is the truth so we can't be

complacent. Can we look at having an

investigatory body in investigating

every death on the road and could

she Daughtry oversees developer and

colleagues of his? 1.3 million

people worldwide die every year.

Isn't it time we did something to

help them?

As he will know we are

very closely involved in supporting

nations around the world and raising

road safety standards and he has

been involved in that himself. With

regards to a national body, we have

looked at that and I am sure he will

take some comfort from the fact that

only today we are laying regulations

that will allow driving instructors

to undertake motorway driving with

learners and that is part of a much

wider push back in order to improve

better driving quality and reduce

fertility is.

The previous Transport

Committee's June 2016 inquiry into

all in running concluded that a %

noncompliance with signals was an

acceptable and in its response the

Government agreed, promising to

tackle it threw up, racial education

and enforcement. This January the

chief executive of highways England

wrote to me with an update stating,

"We have reduced compliance whoa

noncompliance to 8%." How can it be

acceptable for the government to

continue to roll out all lame

running when it appears to have made

zero process on reducing these

dangerous driving offences?

A survey

has been done on all in running

which shows that if anything it may

be more safe than the previous

arrangements and that is something

to be welcomed. As regards her

point, we will be looking at that.

Does he not recognise the

correlation between his government's

decision to scrap road safety

targets introduced by Labour and the

failure to reduce the number of

those seriously injured or killed on

our roads?

I'm a little reluctant to

get into statistics came with the

honourable gentleman but he will be

aware that road fatalities fell by

four % last time it was mentioned,

to September 17, and those overall

road injuries fell by five

percentage of the picture is a mixed

one and generally heading in the

right direction.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. On December

2015, the Department for Transport

published the road safety statement

Working Together To Build A Safer

Roads System, and it is working

towards its objectives and I am

pleased to announce specifically

today the department has announced a

specific study on the third attempt

on our side to understand the

relationship between tyre

degradation and tyre safety. Two

other attempts were made to

commissioners research. The guidance

given has been very effective but

that marks a further move towards

road safety.

Julian and Jill Smith

in my constituency tragically lost

their daughter Rhiannon nearly a

year ago in a road collision and are

now campaigning for better

preventative action. Can I agree

with my friend and asked that the

Minister looks seriously at cause by

campaign groups like Break to make

sure the nationwide crash

investigation Branch is established?

As the honourable lady says, this is

obviously a tragic incident for the

family concerned and one's heart

goes out to them. As I said to her

colleague we continued to look

closely at setting up such a

national body.

In the last 15 years

there have been 340 casualties on

the notorious A417. That follows 140

accidents in the last five years

alone. Will my right honourable

friend join me in warmly welcoming

the landmark we have reached of the

consultation stage on the short

listed new road schemes, and does he

agree with me that by backing this

project this government is committed

to saving lives in Gloucestershire's

roads?

Of course I welcome mat and,

as he will be aware, it has been the

product of a great deal of hard work

by local campaigners and the

department over a considerable

period of time.

With the Minister

consider introducing or reducing the

drink-drive limit? The reduction in

Northern Ireland and Scotland has

led to less deaths on the road and

less work for police. It seems the

most obvious thing to do.

We

continue to keep the situation under

review and, of course, he will be

aware that there have been moves in

that direction in Scotland and as

that policy works its way through,

we will continue to look closely at

the issue.

Number 13.

Thank you, Mr

Speaker. The department published

its latest statistics on road

conditions in England. That shows

that local road conditions in

January of this year... That shows

the local classified roads are

improving, fewer local roads

continue with maintenance but there

is much ado, which is why the

government maintains record levels

Tautai wave maintenance up to 2021

as well as having an action fund to

counteract potholes totalling £296

million in this Parliament.

I would

like to thank him for that answer.

He will be aware that a council has

submitted an effective business case

for the funding of the north-west

relief road in Shrewsbury which is

the final bit of the circular Road

around our town. What steps is he

taking to ensure that the scheme is

looked upon favourably?

I absolutely

aware of that and my honourable

friend has been a tireless

campaigner for this road over the

years. I can assure him that we

recognise the concern he indicates.

The department has received the

funding bid for the Shrewsbury

Northwest relief road and it is

being actively and currently

considered.

The Government was

intending to close the driving test

centre in Pontypridd and move it to

Llantrisant, which will make it far

more inconvenient for people in the

Rhondda, one of the most floristry

constituencies in the land, probably

make it more cost-effective for

people to learn how to drive safely

and will put the driving centre in a

blaze which doesn't have suitable

roads to be able to do the test

properly. Will he look again at

closing the Pontypridd driving test

centre, please?

What is called the

Art of shoehorning in... He did do

it mostly. We congratulate the

honourable gentleman on his

ingenuity.

Style is everything in

these matters, one wonders, or

whether content should have a place.

The answer to that question is that

we will continue to look at it but I

doubt that it will change.

That is

shopping! -- shocking.

In the 2016

/17 financial year the department

spent almost £2.5 million on

supporting the community transport

sector through the bus service

operators Grant and since January

2013 it is devote approximately £2.9

billion -- it has devolved

approximately £2.5 million. The

consultation closes on the 4th of

May.

I thank him for that answer. He

will know that there is a very real

threat to the future of some

operators from the changes he is

consulting on. What more can he do

to protect existing use of permits,

rather than require what are

generally small local charities to

go through the full commercial

status?

I have spent a lot of time working

with the bodies responsible for the

sector and local transport

organisations and take my hat off to

the work that they do in the way of

social care and transport can join.

In the document I'm sure you have

read he will recall that we have

laid out three potential exemptions

on which we are consulting, showing

there is no condition in specific

cases in local transport, a

potential distance exemptions, and

the separation of commercial and

non-commercial activities. We expect

these to receive comments and

feedback will stop I understand what

he talked about taking his hat off.

And I don't understand whether he

would do that in this weather. Many

operators use diesel vehicles so

what recommendations as the UK

Government made to the German

government so that the false Lagan

are held to account.

It is a Rhondda

valet volley Valley by proxy. We

continue to press the German

government hard on that issue and

regard the behaviour from Volkswagen

as unacceptable. We are improving

the emissions regime and toughening

testing regimes and taking active

steps to penalised.

Number 16. In

the East Midlands 7 billion has been

sent on transport since 2010. Title

that is improved, reduce congestion

and transporting people ideas and

goods. In Derbyshire and

Nottinghamshire this has included

£371 million government for

extensions to the Nottingham tram

system and 4.5 million for the new

statesman at Ulverston. Indeed, the

government have a proud record of

transport infrastructure and we have

seen more transport infrastructure

in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire

planned over these ten years than

there has been ever undertaken by

the government and I welcome the

proposals will be a 38 and smart

motorways, and for Derby stations

and Nottingham stations.

Can I

suggest you my honourable friend we

look at other products like smaller

projects which will make a vast

improvement and fully bid for the

Ashbourne bypass. Mark Annable

friend for Doctor Dale 's has been a

great advocate of transport as a

previous Mr in the department. He

has investigated a large upgrade. It

is important to assess the

particular project in Ashbourne and

if the council applies for

government funding we will consider

their bid.

He wasn't merely a

minister in the department, but the

secretary of state, the Right

honourable gentleman of notable

industry and distinction. Mr Dennis

Skinner. The previous speaker...

Said a lot of things about the

possibilities of getting extra money

spent in Derbyshire. What he failed

to do and it is very important is

that when the electrification of the

Midland line was put forward in the

house it was decided that it would

only go as far as Kettering and

Corby. What I am saying to the

honourable minister of transport is

should it not be the question now of

having the wholesale electrification

of the Midland line meaning people

in Derbyshire will be better off as

a result.

I apologise for my earlier

mistake and I apologise to my right

honourable friend as well resign!

LAUGHTER

That is not just Right now but I

will consider it in the future. I

was expecting a HS2 question. Oh

you're saving it? Wonderful. Maybe

even ignored Jin jobs coming along

the line but is talking about

electric occasions Labour 2007 rail

strategy said it would not be

prudent to commit to order thing

products such as network-wide

notification for which longer-term

benefits are currently uncertain and

which could delay capacity. It would

deliver for the taxpayer.

2016 and

2021 will see the use Midlands

received 3.2% of investment. This is

exacerbated by the electrification

cancellation on mainline. It is

wanted by the mainline and

communities and the environment and

why are the ministers the only ones

who don't understand this?

We

haven't yet fairly put out what we

will be doing in that

electrification but I would like to

point out that sometimes the

information is shared isn't

absolutely accurate. The government

has supported the Midlands and not

just aged this to investing in

motorways and trunk roads but £24

million to develop and progress

translational strategies across the

Midlands with Midlands collect. --

connect.

The honourable members who

missed out on substantive questions

can seek to catch my eye on topical

questions. Sir Henry Bellingham.

Secretary of state. The space bill

is now completed through Parliament

and I would like to extend my thanks

to all involved on both sides on the

debate and it was a debate conducted

in good humour on both sides of the

house and we both share the

aspiration of the bill for the

commercial sector in the UK.

As the

Secretary of State aware that both

Network Rail and Govia Thameslink

are committed to ensuring that eight

carriage trains are introduced

between Cambridge and Kingsley by

the end of the year. It is vital to

reduce congestion and will he make

sure that the commitment is

honoured? I will certainly do that,

and also recommit to the

improvements needed in Ely which are

absolutely essential and unlocking

growth and the element.

Since 1979

the distinctive yellow and green

minibuses of Ealing community

transport have provided a vital

lifeline for the disabled and

elderly of the borough but now

change government guidance threatens

the very existence of the social

enterprise. A delegation of drivers

came to see me nearly in tears as

pensioners themselves again I have

the time or inclination to retrain

for the new license. Will he think

again?

As she will be aware it is

currently asked to question. As I

have indicated there are many

workarounds on this is you and there

are no reasons for any community

transport company to be adverse

first the worried. There may be some

players operating in a commercial

wave that that is how the matter

rests and that is what we will do

shall try to do. It is wonderful

that new technologically superior

trains are being introduced on

Britain's railways yet many

passengers are complaining that some

of these trains have seats that are

cramps and uncomfortable. We don't

want to have Ryanair on the tracks.

With the Minister do all he can that

the specifications include passenger

comfort at the heart.

Mr Speaker

train seating is required to address

both the comfort of passengers and

to conform to relevant design

standards which include addressing

fire safety and crashworthiness. We

don't want people to bring in

available questions and my wonderful

friend will take comfort in the fact

that seeds become comfortable over

use. It has now been over 800 faces

the government -- data says the

government promised to research a

law on pavement parking. Can we

update this? We will update later in

the spring.

Last weekend, completely

unrelated to the current weather,

there were dangerous scenes and this

might be be extremely good

investment programme that is going

on but what has the Minister to say

on these? Clearly what took place

last Sunday was unacceptable and on

behalf often I apologise and we have

made our views known to the company

in the strongest possible terms. The

companies is putting arrangements in

place to compensate.

Last Friday I

arranged a site meeting between

Network Rail at the YMCA south

London to talk about an abandoned

strip of land owned by Network Rail

in Mitch and the hope that the YMCA

good provide great free have --

pre-arranged housing on that land

for young people. How can we

encourage the Network Rail to use

all those scraps of land to the

benefit of everyone?

I would happily

meet her with the honourable lady to

discuss this issue to make sure that

we use all of the opportunities the

Network Rail has two bit scraps of

lands to good use whether they are

for housing or walkway or psyching

purposes and I will happily meet

with her to discuss that. What is

the Department doing to help more

people cycle safely as happens in

cities like Amsterdam and

Copenhagen, especially given the

startling revelation to the joint

air quality select committee by

Professor Stephen Holgate that

drivers and passengers are inhaling

up to ten times more poor air

quality than cyclists and

pedestrians on the street?

Well, the

answer to that question is a great

deal and with more to come. I was

very pleased to be able to meet and

go to the APPG which he chairs

meeting with Chris Boardman and an

excellent example of individual

initiative in Manchester can drive

great change. We have a cycle safety

review coming up looking at a very

wide range of issues relating to

cycling including some impacts and

some of the recent information and

as he says it is good for the body

and soul of people who do it.

Thank

you Mr Speaker. Cheshire Oaks in my

constituency is a great success

story in increased investment in 300

jobs there but if you live another

part of the constituency there are

no buses go to there. This is a

sorry state of affairs, people

should be able to get into work.

Bus

services and frequencies, what

journeys people take and how

frequently those services are run, I

would urge him to discuss this with

local authorities instead who should

be discussing this or taking it

forward with the local bus service

providers.

I am extremely grateful

for the secretary of state recently

visiting my constituency of

Stoke-on-Trent South and I was

pleased to give him the

Stoke-on-Trent HS2 supply. Could my

honourable friend updates in the

house on the plans for a jest and

Stoke-on-Trent? I want to put it on

record to put Stoke in receipt of a

service when double opens.

The local

authority as planned big things for

the station and I want to work with

him and the local authority to take

forward.

The western side of the 60

is upgrading to smart motorways, it

has in gridlock and horror for the

traffic on a daily basis and even

now we still see the 50 limit but

moved. When will we see progress on

this most of the network?

I know

they are taking longer than intended

and we want to get this resolved as

possible. It is only because as

someone who travels from time to

time to Old Trafford that the area

is surrounded by roadworks on the

motorway and with the new extension

of the metrolink but I will hope

that he sees that the government is

since the process of resource saying

magister and the greater magister

area.

He will know from our previous

conversations that people have

waited too long to see improvements

on the rail link in Plymouth. When

can the people of Plymouth sees

something delivered? Some work

complete, an Dawlish, which is his

number one responsibility.

Protecting the line at Dawlish is a

national priority of utmost

importance and I am determined to

find a permanent solution for this

vital connection. £15 million

funding has been provided to Network

Rail to take this forward and

planning and development work is

well under way to talk there will be

no unnecessary delay and we will

complete this work as soon as we can

within the law.

Very good to see the

honourable gentleman the Member for

Hove back in his place.

There is one

set of tracks and one rail link

between London and Brighton but

there are three separate pricing

strategies. Can I urge the Secretary

of State to introduce the lower one,

which could be done without

technical changes whatsoever and

have a transformative impact on

passengers who have suffered so much

in the last few years?

We are

working our way through the

recommendations of the Gibb report

and firstly the automation of

ticketing, which are because a

prerequisite of broad affairs reform

which is necessary. He will be aware

that a smart card has launched

across the network.

During the

recent appalling weather,

Worcestershire County Council has

been sharing information about where

the nearest... Will the Secretary of

State join me in praising them for

helping residents with the appalling

conditions?

I absolutely praise them

and I'm delighted we have ample

stocks of snow on hand to do with

the current inconveniences. Let me

say that not least of the joys of

this particular scheme and approach

is that it opens the way to

Herefordshire, a place that I know

the House will wish to visit on

regular occasions.

The Secretary of

State will be aware that no money

was spent in CP five period in

support enhancements to the rail

infrastructure in North Wales.

Having seen the unanimity from North

Wales and north-west England on

Monday of this week, does he not

accept that our time has come in

terms of cross-border rail

investment?

I would like to praise

my right honourable friend for the

work he has done for bringing it

together and to thank the members

from North Wales who attended. I

gave a clear indication of the

government's sympathy around the

need for the hub in Crewe and the

resembling that will take place that

will improve the performance and we

are carrying out a study about how

we deliver a proper service. Under

this government the time has come

for proper investment. Can the

Minister assure me that in assessing

the feedback from his current

consultation his number one

objective will be to put the future

of organisations on a long-term

financial footing?

I can absolutely

assure him that book goal has always

been to do that to the benefit of

the transport sector.

Arrest and his

predecessor have been supportive of

my safety campaign and a hashtag

campaign following us tragic death

in 2014. Would he agree with me that

the hallways permits and trailer

registration bill offers a fantastic

opportunity to highlight the

importance trailer safety?

I

absolutely recognise the campaign

she has fought and I think it is

very worthwhile. I slightly doubt

whether it is in fact the case

that... An attempt will be made

within the rules but this is a very

narrowly defined piece of

legislation that focuses very

specifically on permit thing and

trailer registration server may not

be scope to add other things but I

would be delighted to talk to her

about the campaign.

The need for a

boost to West Oxfordshire transport

is now a cute. Wilderness to agree

to make it happen?

The A40 is one of

the roads that could potentially

benefit from a major road network.

They will deal with this

second-tier... But will fall through

the cracks between local

authorities... My expectation is

that he and his local authority will

be beating a path to my door when

the funding is first released. But I

would say that the railway line is

getting new trains much sooner than

that, which I hope will be of

benefit to his constituents.

Ministers say they want to reduce

roadside emissions so will he listen

to calls for investment in rail

freight as an answer to a problem?

This is precisely why I have very

pleased to have started work on the

Skipton railway line tit of this

could provide a rail link across the

Pennines. Is a matter of frustration

that it takes eight to nine hours

for a freight train to go from the

port of Liverpool to the freight

train at Drax. This is one route

that could deliver improvements and

I am looking forward to the end of

the year.

This week of all weeks rail

passengers want up-to-date

information about delays and

cancellations. South-eastern trains'

website has failed to provide any

line time updates in any single hour

of this week, today included. Will

he bear that in mind when the

franchise comes up for renewal?

Here

a powerful champion for his

constituents and is right to expect

that the company provides prompt and

accurate and timely information so

that passengers can have the journey

quality they deserve.

My constituent

Jim Irving who was active all his

life now suffers with motor neurone

disease and, like many, relies on

his mobility scooter for

independence. Scooters are currently

banned from the Tyne & Wear Metro.

What will the Secretary of State do

to remedy this and will he give

assurances that our new promised

rolling stock will improve provision

for scooters?

As she will rightly

know it is absolutely time that we

improve the rolling stock on Metro.

It is a decision that will be taken

locally about the configurations but

I expect this money to be spent on

disability with compliant rolling

stock to talk

Could he give an

update on the progress of

negotiations regarding air

connections with the EU after we

leave next March?

The European

commission has published its

negotiating position for aviation

links to drop it is worth saying

there have been a lot of scare

stories around over last few months.

The commission says that in all

circumstances, whether or not we

have a trade or implementation

period, there has to be a

negotiation agreements so the

recommendation on side that the

flights need to come continue, and

I'm at my Spanish counterpart

yesterday and we both agreed it is a

sense of authorised to continue and

we will ensure there is no

disruption.

Does the Secretary of

State understand the severe

disappointment and anger from the

far south-west about the rail

strategy published yesterday and now

do the right thing, instead of

spinning the 15 million already

announced, much Labour's two by 5

billion investment from the

south-west?

I am not going to take

lessons from a party that did

nothing for transport and the

south-west over a long period. This

government is doing things that

Labour never did. Brand-new trains,

new signals in Cornwall to ensure we

can have new services.

We have run

out of time and had some very

competence of answers, for which we

are grateful, but I'm going to take

only two more if they are very short

questions and answers.

Will the

Minister please look into the

concerns that the flyover and tunnel

at Stonehenge will damage the

valuable archaeological site at

Brook Mead?

He will be interested to

know that I actually sent a message

of welcome to the team that is

looking at Stonehenge of the moment

and we will look at the concerns he

has and he is welcome to write to me

with further details.

When is the

government going to catch up with

the rest of the world and take the

opportunity of the quick, easy,

cost-effective way of reducing

transport emissions by introducing E

ten?

We have something under review

at the moment it would