Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help support the wider community utility of rail stations in the north of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support the long-term viability of community rail organisations in the context of (a) her Department's rail reforms and (b) the inception of Great British Rail.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As we move towards establishing Great British Railways (GBR), the Community Rail movement will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities. We will continue to work closely with the Community Rail Network to identify opportunities to support the community rail sector ahead of the standup of GBR.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support community rail in the north of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to protect bridleways in the context of changes to national planning regulations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance public rights of way and access, including taking opportunities to provide better facilities for users, for example by adding links to existing rights of way networks including National Trails.
The government will consult on a new suite of national policies for decision making later this year and as part of that exercise we will consider whether any changes are needed to policy relating to public rights of way.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that men’s mental health organisations in the north of England are consulted on the forthcoming men’s health strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Men's Health Strategy will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of all men in England and will be informed by a call for evidence that is open to the public, academics, health and social care professionals, and stakeholder organisations in England. The call for evidence closes on 17 July 2025. We encourage all men’s mental health organisations in the north of England to complete the call for evidence and have their say on ways to tackle the biggest health problems facing men. We will continue to engage with stakeholders during development of the strategy.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of bridleways on supporting active travel nationally.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bridleways have an important role to play in enabling active travel across the country. To support local authorities seeking to deliver active travel schemes outside of towns and cities, Active Travel England is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural contexts and expects to publish this later this year. The guidance will explore how best bridleways (and other elements of the Public Rights of Way network) can be incorporated and integrated into existing and proposed active travel networks to expand their reach and connectivity. This will potentially have benefits for a range of different path users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders.