Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Derek Twigg and Andrew Jones

Thursday 12th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point, and I agree with him.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The Minister mentioned the Halton curve; he will know that it is an important part of the cross-border links between my constituency and Wales. Will he confirm that the project is on time, and tell us the date on which it will be completed?

[Andrew Jones]

I will check the latest information and write to the hon. Gentleman, but my understanding is that it is exactly on time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Derek Twigg and Andrew Jones

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones]

All children aged between five and 16 qualify for free school transport if they attend their nearest school and it is sufficiently far from their home. The decision to provide additional services will be a matter for the local authority and some do, such as the Staffordshire scheme for those aged between 11 and 19. There is obviously an issue that concerns my hon. Friend and I will be happy to meet him to explore the issue further and to try to help.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

One section of our population that is particularly disadvantaged by poor bus services, both rural and urban, is young people, who are also hit by the cost of travelling. What are the Government doing to help young people access transport and to help them with the cost?

[Andrew Jones]

There is a mixture of support through national and local government. Individual local authorities decide their funding priorities, but local authorities in England have spent an average of £330 million a year over the past three years supporting bus services, and 42% of bus income comes from public funds. I have already talked about BSOG support nationally.

M56 (Junctions 12 to 14)

Debate between Derek Twigg and Andrew Jones

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) on securing this debate on road safety, an issue I know he champions consistently. I am grateful for the opportunity to update the House on current and planned action between junctions 12 and 14 of the M56.

I know that my hon. Friend is concerned about the number of incidents on this stretch of the strategic road network. He has made his case eloquently and I want to reassure him and the House that I take safety seriously. I share his concern that some of the incidents have resulted in serious injuries and, sadly, fatalities. Highways England is already investigating the reasons for that worrying trend, examining the data in depth to see whether any trends emerge in terms of causation factors. It is too early to say at this point what final measures the review might identify or the time scales for implementing them, but I will ensure that that is given priority and that Highways England is aware of the concern in the House, which is shared by colleagues on both sides.

[Derek Twigg]

Has the Highways Agency carried out a road safety audit? If not, why not? If it has, what were the results?

[Andrew Jones]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. He has been assiduous in asking about safety on the M56 and he will recall that I wrote to him about it in September. I assure him that safety is a top priority for the Department and for Highways England. The investigatory work is ongoing and I will make sure that the results of that work are shared openly and given appropriate priority by Highways England. I will also make sure that a report of this debate is sent to Highways England with immediate effect.

I will say a little about the long-term investment in the road network. We are taking a strategic and long-term approach to planning our network and we are providing stability of funding for Highways England, so that it is better able to plan its investment in the network. My hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale will recall that the first road investment strategy, which Highways England is now delivering, includes a commitment to invest in stretches of the M56, including the new junction 11a to link the M56 to the A533 at Runcorn, creating an improved link to the new Mersey Gateway bridge from the south.

The first RIS was informed by a comprehensive review of the entire strategic road network through a series of route strategies, prepared at that time by the Highways Agency. The pressures and needs of the M56 were assessed as part of the broader south Pennines route strategy. Such route strategies marked the first time that the needs of the strategic road network had been comprehensively assessed, link by link and junction by junction. I am pleased to advise my hon. Friend and indeed the House that such an assessment of the M56 and other parts of the network is not a one-off.

We are developing the process for preparing a second RIS, which will cover the period after 2020. A key part of the evidence base will be Highways England’s next iteration of these route strategies, which it will use to identify the current and future constraints that the performance of the strategic road network places on economic growth. It will then use this information to identify how future delivery and investment plans might address and remove those constraints. As we take the local route strategies forward, I think we will see greater collaboration with local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and other local stakeholders to determine the nature, need and timing of the future investment that the network requires.

To inform the second RIS, Highways England will begin to develop the next round of route strategies with a view to publishing them at the end of 2016-17. I want to change the process a little bit for our second RIS, to make it far more open and to ensure that colleagues here in the House are able to contribute to it with their suggestions. There is no shortage of ideas about the improvements that are required across our network and I want to make sure that colleagues get a chance to contribute to, inform and shape the strategy.