Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)]

3. What discussions he has had with (a) operator and (b) trade union representatives on bus driver shortages.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Andrew Stephenson)]

My Department continues to work with trade representatives and operators to understand and mitigate the extent, impacts and reasons behind driver shortages.

[Navendu Mishra]

Happy St Patrick’s Day, Mr Speaker. During the pandemic, bus drivers kept vital lifeline services going at huge risk to their health. Many now face reduced pay and conditions and disgraceful fire and rehire tactics employed by disreputable bosses, so they are understandably leaving the industry in droves. What steps are the Government taking to improve the pay and conditions of bus drivers, to encourage people to take up jobs in the sector, and to solve the current shortage?

[Andrew Stephenson]

I join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to bus drivers, who worked throughout the pandemic. The Government supported the work of local bus services with £1.7 billion of funding throughout the period. We do not intervene, however, on the levels of remuneration in private businesses, with the exception of setting rates for the national minimum wage and the national living wage.

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Sam Tarry.

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

Happy St Patrick’s Day, Mr Speaker. During the height of the covid pandemic, bus drivers worked tirelessly, often at considerable risk to their health, to keep our vital services functioning by helping NHS staff and other essential workers reach their destination. This week, a Unite the union survey said that we now face bus driver shortages in 99% of garages, which clearly severely hampers services across the country. The same survey said that an average of 90% of respondents believe that the mass exodus is a direct result of low pay and poor working conditions. Those heroes of the transport industry clearly deserve something better, so is it not high time for operators to reward the efforts of our vital transport networks and the people who work on them, and give those bus drivers the pay rise and improvements in working conditions that they thoroughly deserve?

[Andrew Stephenson]

Similarly to several hon. Members, my grandfather was a bus driver so I always stand in solidarity with bus drivers across the country. The Government have supported buses with record amounts, not just with the money that we are putting in during the pandemic but with a doubling of bus funding compared with the previous spending review. We recently announced a further six months of the covid-19 support package for the buses and light rail sectors, worth a minimum of £150 million.

[Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to improve accessibility for disabled people using the rail network.

--- Later in debate ---

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

5. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of reductions in Transport for the North’s budget on levelling up in the north of England.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Andrew Stephenson)]

Transport for the North’s core funding for financial year 2022-23 totals £6.5 million, a rise of £500,000 on the previous year. This funding is in addition to the Government’s historic £96 billion integrated rail plan.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

Shall we try again on this? On 18 November, the same day that Ministers ignored TfN’s recommendations in the disappointing integrated rail plan, Whitehall also removed powers from TfN and levelled down its funding by 37%; the main devolved power Ministers have left with TfN is over making staff redundant. Does the Minister agree with the TfN chair, Lord Patrick McLoughlin, a former Secretary of State for Transport, in his letter of 3 March, in which he warned that funding cuts to TfN will mean

“down-sizing of the organisation which in turn will result in redundancies”?

[Andrew Stephenson]

The right hon. Lady continues to focus on process while we continue to focus on delivery. It is not for the Government to comment on the business planning of a devolved transport body. TfN definitely has enough money to complete its statutory funding commitments, and it has far more money than any other sub-national transport body. On the staff affected by TfN’s move to become the Northern Powerhouse Rail co-sponsor, the Department has commenced discussions on the TUPE process and as such I am unable to comment further at this time.

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[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) affordability of bus services in Newcastle as part of the Government’s levelling-up agenda.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Andrew Stephenson)]

Our levelling-up agenda includes investing £1.2 billion to deliver better and cheaper bus services across England, as set out in our bus strategy, which is part of more than £3 billion of new spending on buses.

[Chi Onwurah]

The levelling-up White Paper promises to bring local public transport connectivity closer to London standards by 2030—so not as good as London, just less worse and not for another eight years. Newcastle needs affordable and accessible bus services now, not the cuts we are seeing. Transport North East’s bus service improvement plan sets out the improvements we need. Will the Minister fund it?

[Andrew Stephenson]

We hope to make more announcements on the latest round of funding very soon. Officials from the Department are working with representatives from the city regions, including Nexus and Transport North East, to establish options for integrated multimodal ticketing. We have of course already announced £5.7 billion for transport networks in the eight city regions, and the north-east, the North East Combined Authority and the North of Tyne Combined Authority will receive their share of the funding once appropriate governance is in place.

[David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)]

12. If he will review the airports national policy statement 2018 following the development of his Department’s jet zero strategy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

14. If he will ensure that funding for junction 10A on the A14 at Kettering is incorporated into his Department’s road investment strategy 3 from 2025.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Andrew Stephenson)]

The findings of the technical review for the A14 junction 10A have been completed by National Highways and form the high-level strategic outline business case for the scheme (SOBC). National Highways have confirmed they will be happy to share the technical review with my hon. Friend and meet him to discuss these in due course.

[Mr Hollobone]

Residents in Kettering, Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer desperately need junction 10A to be included in road investment strategy 3 from 2025 because with 5,500 new homes being built on the Hanwood Park development to the east of Kettering, Kettering will grind to a halt if this junction is not put in place. Would my hon. Friend be kind enough to secure a meeting for me with the Roads Minister so that we can progress this scheme?

[Andrew Stephenson]

My hon. Friend continues to be the strongest possible champion for this scheme and for his constituents. I know he met the Roads Minister to discuss this recently, but I know my noble Friend the Baroness Vere will be more than happy to meet him again. Discussions about this scheme remain ongoing.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

The road investment strategy will now have to take into account remedial work on smart motorways. Just last week it was revealed that for almost a week prior to a tragic collision on the M4, vehicle detection technology, there to protect stranded motorists, had been broken. What is more, overnight it has been reported that one in six stopped vehicle detection cameras on the M25 are currently out of action. These serious flaws in safety-critical technology on smart motorways are continuing to put lives at risk. I beg the Minister to urgently address these serious flaws and, in the meantime, to reinstate the hard shoulder before more lives are needlessly lost.

[Andrew Stephenson]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, with which I have a lot of sympathy. We are committed to making sure that smart motorways are among the safest roads in the country. We want drivers not just to be safe, but, crucially, to feel safe and confident when driving on those roads. That is why we have listened to concerns and are taking forward the Transport Committee’s recommendations. We need to continue to work to ensure that smart motorways are as safe as possible for all road users.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

15. What recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of working conditions and (b) level of job security of private hire drivers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)]

Over the past few weeks, contractors for HS2 Ltd have brought yet more disruption and, frankly, despair to my constituents, especially in Stoke Mandeville and Wendover. They have misled property owners, they have gone back on reassurances and they have started work for which they have no permission, which has had to be halted. Will the Minister for HS2 please remind HS2 Ltd that its pledge to be a good neighbour is not just a slogan, and that it demands action?

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Andrew Stephenson)]

My hon. Friend continues to be a real champion for his constituency, as I saw at first hand when he took me on a tour of problem sites across Aylesbury. I note what he says and I will be more than happy to relay his message to HS2 Ltd. I also remind him and other colleagues across the House that, following my six-monthly progress report on HS2 yesterday, there will be a meeting at 2 pm today with the CEO of HS2 Ltd, Mark Thurston, and myself, which he will be welcome to attend.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

In the nearly five years I have been an MP, four cyclists have died on Oxfordshire’s roads: Ling this month; Ellen last month; Samantha in 2020; and John in 2019. Speaking after Ling’s death, her husband James said that one day he hoped to take his children to the roundabout where she died and to tell them:

“Look, no one else dies here because of Mummy.”

The county council has rightly made cycle safety a top priority but it desperately needs Government help, particularly financially. Will the Minister consider meeting me to discuss how we can keep Oxfordshire cyclists safe and how we can avoid any more senseless deaths?

--- Later in debate ---

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

In answer to Question 3, I think the Minister of State, Department for Transport, the hon. Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson), said he is meeting the trade union representatives of the bus driver industry. Can he confirm that he is meeting the trade union representatives regularly? Has his Department assessed the levels of bus driver pay and the impact of the same on recruitment and retention?

[Andrew Stephenson]

In answer to Question 3, I said that the roads Minister, Baroness Vere, is regularly meeting trade representatives, not trade union representatives. As the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (John Cryer) will know, the bus operators are predominantly private sector companies. It is not for the Government to dictate wages in the private sector, apart from setting the national minimum wage and the national living wage, which, I am proud to say, was introduced by this Government.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

The French Government have recently decided that car adverts in France must now encourage consumers to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling, car pooling and public transport as alternatives to driving. Will the United Kingdom Government consider that one small step to decarbonise transport and encourage active travel and living?