Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to announce whether they will provide the remaining £6.2 million necessary to restore the Tyne Bridge.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
All capital funding within the Department for Transport is subject to internal review which is feeding into the Comprehensive Spending Review; the outcome of which will be known later this year.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the condition of Redheugh Bridge; and whether they intend to provide funding for its restoration.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council, as local highway authorities, are responsible for the condition and maintenance of Redheugh Bridge through the Newcastle and Gateshead’s Joint Bridges Committee". Both Councils are members of the North-East Combined Authority (NECA).
The Department does not hold a central contingency fund to pay for repairs of this sort but is always willing to discuss with individual highway authorities what support might be available. At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, which will allow authorities to undertake more repairs of this sort. As part of the funding uplift, NECA will receive an additional £21.7 million, on top of its existing City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. It is a matter for the Mayor to determine how to allocate this funding to NECA’s constituent authorities to allow them to maintain their highway networks, including bridges and other assets.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the £41.4 million funding they have promised for the restoration of the Tyne Bridge will be released in time for the works to completed for its centenary in 2028.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
I am delighted that the Roads Minister announced at the Tyne Bridge last Friday, 2 February, that the Full Business Case (FBC) for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167(M) Major Road Network scheme has been approved.
The Department has agreed to provide an initial funding contribution of £35.2m towards an estimated total scheme cost of £41.4m. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Network North last autumn, our commitment to schemes in the Major Road Network programme has increased from 85% of cost, as estimated at the Outline Business Case stage, to up to 100%. We will announce shortly how individual schemes, including the Tyne Bridge, will benefit from this additional funding.