Oral Answers to Questions
Ben Obese-Jecty Excerpts(3 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Louise Haigh
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has put her finger on exactly the problem with the system across the country at the moment. For too long, we have allowed private operators to pick and choose whatever routes and services they want, with no say whatsoever for local people or local leaders. The better buses Bill is at the heart of our bus service reforms, and it will give local people a proper say on the routes and services that they absolutely depend on.
Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)
In my constituency of Huntingdon, eight villages receive no bus services whatsoever, including Molesworth, where we will shortly see a half a billion pound investment in upgrading and expanding our defence infrastructure at RAF Molesworth. Given that franchising will potentially be introduced in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can guarantee that our rural villages are given the focus they urgently need?
Louise Haigh
The hon. Gentleman has made the case for franchising. It is totally unacceptable that entire villages are cut off, without the bus services that they absolutely need. That denies people the opportunity to move around their area and get to work or education opportunities. The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is pursuing franchising. We are supporting him in those efforts, and we will make sure that villages such as those in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency are properly included in the franchising process.
Rural Bus Services
Ben Obese-Jecty Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Sarah Dyke
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I could not agree more; it is crucial that local authorities are given the funding they need to provide these essential services. Local authorities are once again currently waiting for further information regarding the future of various sources of funding they receive from central Government. I submitted a written question to the new Government in July regarding the future of the bus service improvement plan and BSIP Phase 2 funds. While the response affirmed a commitment to improving bus services as part of their growth mission, it failed to provide specific details of plans.
Rural areas desperately need to see plans and to have those assurances of how vital services can continue to run. Earlier this week, the Government laid forward a statutory instrument that opened up bus franchising for all local authorities in England. I welcome the Government’s ambition to fix the country’s broken buses, but they must understand that bus services outside urban areas face different problems.
Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)
Of the 68 settlements in Huntingdon, eight currently do not receive a bus service at all, including Brington, Bythorn, Covington, Holywell, Keyston, Molesworth and Southoe. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government’s proposed introduction of bus franchising must make provision to ensure that those rural communities are included as the new routes are devised?
Sarah Dyke
I could not agree more with the hon. Gentleman. Rural bus services need to be given proper funding. They are so crucial to our residents and must be aligned with those urban resources, because there are different problems, as I mentioned.
Rural areas often see low passenger numbers, but those who use the bus services are absolutely reliant on them. The previous Government, in their bus back better plans made a commitment to providing
“guidance on the meaning and role of ‘socially necessary’ services, expanding the category to include ‘economically necessary’ services”.
That did not happen, leaving more uncertainty about the future of the services and failing to provide the protection they need. Will the Minister provide specific guidance on the protection of bus routes for social and environmental reasons?
In my constituency and in other rural areas across the country, there are people for whom bus services are an absolute lifeline. One family from Templecombe told me that their daughter—a single mother who cannot drive due to a medical condition—relies on the 58 bus to take her children to school and college. They rely on the same bus to see their GP in Milborne Port and to get to Wincanton. Thankfully, that route is saved for now, but that one example demonstrates how crucial buses are for those who are reliant on them. That is why, in the last Parliament, I tabled the Public Transport (Rural Areas) Bill, which would have set a minimum service level for the provision of public transport in rural areas, ensuring that people have access to major sites of employment, education and leisure.
Road Safety on the A1
Ben Obese-Jecty Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)
The A1 runs through my constituency, but the same issues also apply to the new A14, with similar dangerous junctions. The 12-mile section that includes the stretch between Keystone and Ellington has both crossovers and ungraded junctions. Does my hon. Friend agree that on those stretches, Highways England should introduce a reduced speed limit of 50 mph where there are dangerous junctions, as there is on the A1, as an immediate measure prior to upgrading the junctions and improving signage?
Alicia Kearns
As my hon. Friend says, that is something we have on the A1 already. I caution him, because I know that, while our constituents call for safety measures, they are often not the biggest fans of slowing speeds. However, as a short-term, interim step until we can get those long-term safety issues resolved, he is absolutely right to stand up for them on behalf of his constituents.
When it comes to my constituents, Transport for the East Midlands did a survey of more than 1,000 local residents. Some 60% reported feeling actively unsafe while driving on the A1, and more than 50% reported having either been in an accident or seen one. That is half the 1,000 people surveyed in my constituency who saw that; it is an extraordinary number, and it speaks for itself about the urgent safety upgrades needed. That was only enhanced when I did my own survey of residents on the A1. Of the hundreds and hundreds who responded, more than 90% said that closing the central reservation gaps was key, and over 300 separately mentioned the slip roads being a serious concern for them.
I have been asking National Highways for urgent action for several years. I am glad that its representatives have agreed to come and drive the A1 with me. They may soon regret that decision, but they have agreed to do so. I am also pleased that, a few weeks before the election, they agreed to and announced a review of central reservation crossings on the A1. It was my No. 1 request to them, so I am delighted to have secured it.