Oral Answers to Questions

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies on increasing access to public transport for disabled passengers.

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

11. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies on increasing access to public transport for disabled passengers.

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

We have made significant progress on increasing access. By the end of the year, we expect around 75% of rail journeys to start or end at a step-free station. That is an increase from around 50% when the Access for All programme started. That programme will deliver 151 step-free routes at stations this year. On the buses, only 57% met accessibility regulations in 2009-10. That number is now nearly 90% and rising.

[Andrew Jones]

I am aware of the installation of the new footbridge at Chirk station, which will vastly improve the facilities there, but I do not recognise what the hon. Lady says. The Access for All programme has been a great success. We are building on the success of the programme that was launched by the previous Government. So far, £386 million has been spent and about 1,200 stations have benefited from smaller-scale improvements. To build on the success, a further £160 million of funding has been allocated in the last year, which will extend the scheme to a further 68 stations.

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

I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, and the Minister will join me in congratulating Northumbria University on its new chancellor, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Thank you. To get to Newcastle, the chancellor has to propel herself up the impossibly steep footbridge ramp at Eaglescliffe station, which is treacherous in difficult weather. Network Rail says that it cannot afford to put in a lift. Is that the result that the Government expected when slashing the Access for All grant by 42%?

[Andrew Jones]

Baroness Grey-Thompson is an extremely impressive figure and the university will benefit from her involvement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am sure that that is meant to be a helpful question. In the run-up to the spending review, it is not.

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

T9. As a chartered engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, I was horrified to learn that software engineering had apparently been used to cheat legitimate regulation and possibly undermine public health. The Secretary of State has criticised Volkswagen, but what discussions has he had with the professional bodies, the Minister of State for Skills and the automotive industry to ensure that this sort of dark engineering has no place in our cars?