Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

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

Ministers have had no discussions with representatives of Nottingham City Council on the use of the income from its workplace parking levy scheme, but officials from the Department have been in contact with officials from Nottingham City Council.

[Mr Allen]

Devolving power to the city of Nottingham by enabling it to have a workplace parking levy has led to Nottingham having the biggest fleet of electric buses in Europe, to the redevelopment of the Nottingham rail station and to tramlines being introduced in Nottingham, and those have now been extended. Will the Minister come to Nottingham to see these developments and to discuss with the city council how a shortfall in EU funding will be made good so that these things can continue?

[Andrew Jones]

I agree that this is a very buoyant time—a positive time—for public transport in Nottingham. The workplace parking levy raises between £8 million and £9 million a year, and it does indeed contribute to the tram system. However, the coalition Government agreed to provide £371 million towards it, so many of the enhancements we see come from central Government. I would be delighted to go to Nottingham—they are doing a very good job there—and would happily discuss the funding arrangements.

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

4. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of railway rolling stock.

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[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

6. When he expects a decision to be made on post-concession arrangements for the Severn bridges.

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

The UK Government are committed to the continued successful operation of these vital crossings. The Government plan to consult this autumn on the proposed halving of tolls—which would represent a massive saving for users—as well as other options, including free-flow tolling.

[Jessica Morden]

I thank the Minister for attending the recent meeting in this place with the Freight Transport Association to discuss the future of the Severn bridges. I know that there is to be a consultation, but there is real concern about the issue, especially now that the bridges will continue to be seen as a cash cow for the Government. May I reiterate that we want the bridge tolls to come down further and an assurance that when they return to public ownership they stay that way?

[Andrew Jones]

I very much enjoyed that meeting and hearing the views of businesses in Wales and of Welsh Members. The concession will finish when £1.029 billion is returned from tolls to the public purse. We expect that to happen sometime in early 2018. We are working on the plans that will follow that transition. We will consult more broadly, but I entirely agree that keeping the tolls low will help businesses in the area.

[Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)]

I have a large number of haulage and private contract hire companies in my constituency, many of which trade across the whole of the UK. They are very concerned that the consultation is not just a paper exercise and that the Minister is listening. Once the tolls have paid off the cost of the bridge, will he consider handing it over to the Welsh Assembly to manage?

[Andrew Jones]

The bridges are primarily in England, so that is an interesting Welsh land grab. As regards listening to the voice of businesses, if I was not listening to the voice of business, I would not have attended the meeting that was arranged by the hon. Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) with the Freight Transport Association.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

7. What recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on border controls at air and maritime ports.

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[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

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

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

The Department published its latest assessment in March 2016. This assessment shows that local classified roads are improving, with fewer local classified roads that should be considered for maintenance. But there is still much to do, which is why the Government have committed record levels of investment, over £6 billion, to highways maintenance up to 2021, as well has having a pothole action fund totalling £250 million in this Parliament.

[Andrew Rosindell]

I thank the Minister for his reply, but is he aware of the significant difficulties my constituents face travelling east from Romford due to the congestion caused by the roundabout and flyover at Gallows Corner? At peak times, this roundabout can cause complete gridlock in parts of my constituency. Will he raise this matter with the Greater London Authority and work with the Mayor of London to organise a new road layout? That would be a great relief to the local constituents in Romford and throughout the London Borough of Havering.

[Andrew Jones]

This is a matter for Transport for London, because it is part of the local network. TfL consulted on proposals earlier this year in respect of road safety improvements at Gallows Corner, but my hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. I would be very happy to take this up with the Mayor and TfL. I suggest that the most helpful way forward would be for both of us to continue to do just that.

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[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

T4. What assessment has been made of the importance of transport improvement and infrastructure projects to the success of the northern powerhouse? Will my hon. Friend provide an update on progress?

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

Transport is vital for creating the northern powerhouse, connecting northern regions and supporting jobs, which helps to rebalance the UK economy. Work towards delivering an improved, integrated transport system is well under way. In 2014, we created Transport for the North and we have committed to spending a record £13 billion on transport in the north.

[Calum Kerr (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (SNP)]

T6. Since it was reopened by the Scottish Government last year, the Borders railway has been a remarkable success. In the first six months of its operation, passenger forecasts were exceeded by 22% and the Scottish Government have committed to a feasibility study on restoring the line to its historic route to extend it to Hawick and Carlisle. What dialogue has the Secretary of State had with the new Scottish Transport Minister on the matter and does he support the principle of a new cross-border rail connection?

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[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

What is the Department doing to ensure that the pothole action money is being efficiently spent and to ensure best practice?

[Andrew Jones]

The pothole action fund has a budget of £250 million across this Parliament. The first allocation has already been made this year. It has been allocated to councils according to the number of highways for which they are responsible. We are looking at how we can make the fund as efficient as possible but the key thing is that we are backing local authorities to improve the quality of their local road network.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

T9. I have previously highlighted the predicted 45,000 shortage of HGV drivers in the UK. That is only going to get worse after Brexit because many agencies already rely on EU citizens to supply HGV drivers. When will the Government commit to looking at the cost benefits of providing grants for companies to put people who are unemployed through HGV training?

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[Robert Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

I very much welcome the statistics showing that road improvement and road safety are getting better, but those statistics mask what is really happening with all-lane running. The Transport Select Committee has produced a report, published today, which shows the disingenuity going on in the statistics. What we are looking for is the Minister’s acceptance that all-lane running is dangerous and that we need to do something about it.

[Andrew Jones]

I am aware that the Transport Select Committee has published a report this morning, but I have not yet had a chance to read it fully. The point about our smart motorways is that they are designed to add capacity to our network without compromising safety. The evidence from the first all-lane running schemes on the M25 show that the busiest journey times have almost halved, the number of collisions has reduced by almost a fifth and casualty rates are down by 21%. Obviously, safety is a priority. I will read the report with much interest.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that improvements on our railways will be made only if the unions move into the current century, embrace new technology and stop playing politics with passengers?

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[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Investment in the Chowns Mill roundabout and the dualling of the A45 are important priorities for people in east Northamptonshire, and they are part of the road investment strategy. Will the Secretary of State do all that he can to ensure that they are delivered as early as possible, given that they are so desperately needed?

[Andrew Jones]

I fully recognise the importance of those schemes to my hon. Friend and his constituents. We are working to ensure that all our road investment strategy schemes are delivered as soon as possible, but I will keep him informed of progress.