Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 28th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the condition of local roads.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Andrew Jones)]

The Government fully understand how important it is to have a reliable quality road network, which is why we are providing a record £6 billion for local highways maintenance. We have also created the pothole action fund with a budget of £250 million dedicated to delivering better journeys.

[Daniel Kawczynski]

I am grateful to the Minister for his answer. I am pleased that he has agreed to come to Shrewsbury soon to look at some congestion problems in the town. May I draw his attention to the state of the roads in rural counties where there are huge numbers of potholes, a lack of pavements and significant problems? We really need more investment for those roads in rural counties.

[Andrew Jones]

I am looking forward to visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency on 27 May. I agree that more money is required, which is why the Government have increased the budget. Within the two initiatives that I have just highlighted, may I include the fact that we are also incentivising part of the maintenance fund so that efficient and organised councils are rewarded? That will encourage local councils to improve the maintenance regime on their highways. I urge him to work with his council so that it can benefit from that scheme to the maximum.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

From this year until 2021, both the A1 and the A19 will be undergoing extensive roadworks. Although that investment is welcome, the current plans show that both roads will be upgraded at the same time, which will create total chaos on our region’s road network and bring the north-east to a total standstill. I have already written to the Secretary of State about this, and he is clearly not interested. Will he show some interest from today?

[Andrew Jones]

We are investing significantly in our road network. We have the Government’s first road investment strategy, with a significant overall pot of £15.2 billion. It is phased to deliver maximum benefit across our country. Of course Highways England plans such things effectively, and then works with local partners to ensure that there is minimum disruption. We should welcome the investment, as I certainly do.

[Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (Con)]

19. The Institute of Advanced Motorists has praised Dorset County Council for focusing on long-term road repairs. Will the Minister join me in praising the council for using its scarce resources wisely, and ensure that vital funding continues to enable Dorset to maintain the standards of its roads?

[Andrew Jones]

I will indeed join my hon. Friend in praising Dorset County Council. It is great to hear that its long-term approach is paying dividends. It is that approach that we want to see across the whole network. I will write to Dorset County Council to highlight the views of this House, to pass on our congratulations, and to confirm his main point that budgets will be increasing.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Last year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development paid £4.5 million in compensation for the damage done to vehicles by potholes. The Government allocated extra moneys to Northern Ireland to help with that problem. Will the Minister agree to allocate the same amount of money to Northern Ireland this year?

[Andrew Jones]

I will certainly look into that matter, and write to the hon. Gentleman with an answer.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to provide funding for large local transport projects.

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[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on the proposed electrification of the trans-Pennine rail line.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Andrew Jones)]

The Secretary of State, Ministers and officials meet Network Rail regularly to progress the complex and transformative upgrades that we are undertaking on the trans-Pennine line. These upgrades will deliver faster journey times and significantly more capacity by improving the track and signalling as well as electrifying the line.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Mr Speaker, may I quickly associate myself with the generous tribute you paid to those great servants of the House, but point out that you seemed to omit the time and date of the lavish retirement party you are putting on for them?

May I say to the rail Ministers that they have challenged us to speak to the facts? According to the BBC, the facts are that the trans-Pennine electrification is in severe doubt because of what is happening in the south, where electrification is four years late. New trains are arriving before the rails are ready and they are parking them up in sidings.

[Mr Speaker]

I am not sure the hon. Gentleman will be on the party invitation list with a question that length.

[Andrew Jones]

The hon. Gentleman is wrong. Let me briefly remind him that under this Government there has been more electrification than in the entire 13 years of the previous Labour Government.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

16. The north of England rail electrification taskforce, which the Minister chaired, recommends as its second priority Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington, with Southport and Kirkby to Salford Crescent as its third. Can he tell us when the work on those projects will take place?

[Andrew Jones]

The taskforce informed the next control period and the control periods after that. The detail of the content of CP6 is not yet complete.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Jake Berry.

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[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to implement the Government’s road investment strategy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Andrew Jones)]

Highways England’s delivery plan sets out how it will deliver the Government’s £15 billion road investment strategy. Work on site is already under way on 19 major schemes, five of which Highways England has started this financial year, as planned. I meet it on a monthly basis to monitor progress.

[Paul Maynard]

Residents, including myself, remain grateful for the Government’s commitment to upgrading the new A585 in my constituency, but they are keen to get a progress report on identifying the precise route and securing the landownership required to commence work in 2019. Can the Minister give us that update please?

[Andrew Jones]

I can indeed. Highways England is making good progress. It has been doing initial work on options and anticipates beginning engagement with stakeholders and the wider public later this year. The scheme is on track to start construction in the 2019-20 financial year, as planned, but I will ask Highways England to keep my hon. Friend informed of progress.

[Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)]

Will the Minister give me an assurance that the long-needed and very complicated Chickenhall link road in my constituency will be properly considered? It would deliver new jobs, less congestion and pollution, increased productivity, and access to Southampton airport, but has been decades in the waiting.

[Andrew Jones]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her work on this issue. I know she has put an enormous effort into it. The congestion in the Eastleigh area is a significant local problem, and I am aware of the work that Hampshire County Council is doing, but perhaps it would be helpful if we met outside here to discuss what we can do to move this project forward.

[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the performance of Network Rail in delivering engineering projects during Christmas and new year 2015-16.

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[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

I invite the Minister to comment on my question 18 on Government support for hydrogen fuel cell technology.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Andrew Jones)]

Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, alongside battery electric vehicles, have the potential to play an important role in decarbonising road transport. The Government began working with the industry in 2012 through the UK H₂Mobility programme, developing a road map for hydrogen-based transport. It has a big role in the future.

[Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

T8. Is the Secretary of State aware that, back in the 17th century, the port of King’s Lynn was the fourth largest in the country and has been thriving ever since? Now, however, it is under severe threat from a pernicious and job-destroying European port services regulation. What are the Secretary of State and his Ministers going to do to make the EU see sense and withdraw this unwanted regulation?

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

St Helens North is in the Mersey travel area, but thousands of my constituents commute outside it to work in Wigan, Warrington and Manchester, which means that they are effectively paying a levy on their journeys. What progress has been made towards a smart ticketing system for the north of England, which would put an end to these increasingly arbitrary travel boundaries?

[Andrew Jones]

Transport for the North is developing its plans for smart ticketing across the north, and the Government have provided £150 million to assist it with the project. I am a great supporter of smart ticketing, and I will be helping Transport for the North all the way.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

T9. We in Nottinghamshire thank Gordon Brown for dualling the A46, but unfortunately, as was so often the way, the money ran out. The dualling ends outside Newark, and the gridlock begins. Will the Minister confirm that the dualling of the A46 from Farndon to Winthorpe is part of the Government’s plan, and that it could be brought forward in the event of slippage elsewhere?

[Andrew Jones]

My hon. Friend is a diligent campaigner on this issue. In October we met Councillor Blaney, a representative of his local authority.

The scheme is highly complex. The Government are committed to beginning construction in our next roads period, which means that we can start the assessment and development work now, but I am afraid I cannot tell my hon. Friend that the scheme is being brought forward.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

We are approaching the second anniversary of the private finance initiative to electrify the line from Hull to Selby. Can the Minister update us on that no-brainer, which will benefit both the travelling public and the Government because it is privately financed?

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[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

Leeds City Council is currently consulting on road options for leaving Bradford airport, but it is ignoring the obvious solution of a rail link to the railway line, which is 1.1 miles away. Why is the council considering those options, given that they are based on flawed assumptions in a flawed report from the Department for Transport?

[Andrew Jones]

The importance of connectivity to our airports has long been underestimated in transport policy, and that certainly applies to the Leeds-Bradford connection. I think that we should be positive about the fact that work is being done to establish how we can improve connectivity, but I suggest that the hon. Gentleman join the campaign that is being run by my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew).

[Sir Alan Haselhurst (Saffron Walden) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the prospectus offering new rail passenger services in London and the south-east. It states, on page 26, that

“Crossrail 2 would move inner suburban services onto new tracks”,

thus improving those services. However, there is no plan to try to run this enhanced metro on the current rickety two-track system, which means further delays in train services from outer suburban stations. Can my right hon. Friend reassure me about that?