Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department took into account the scale of the reduction in bus miles in each authority area over the past five years when allocating Bus Service Improvement Plan funding for 2025-26.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Shropshire Council has been allocated £4.4 million of this funding.
As the Secretary of State noted in her oral statement to the House of Commons on 18 November, funding for local authorities has been allocated based on local needs, including population, the distance that buses travel, and levels of deprivation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department made an assessment of Shropshire Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan before deciding the authority’s 2025-26 funding.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Shropshire Council has been allocated £4.4 million of this funding.
As the Secretary of State noted in her oral statement to the House of Commons on 18 November, funding for local authorities has been allocated based on local needs, including population, the distance that buses travel, and levels of deprivation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will publish the criteria used to decide the bus service improvement plan funding allocations for 2025-26.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Shropshire Council has been allocated £4.4 million of this funding.
As the Secretary of State noted in her oral statement to the House of Commons on 18 November, funding for local authorities has been allocated based on local needs, including population, the distance that buses travel, and levels of deprivation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the number of (a) deaths and (b) serious accidents on roads in Shropshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Local government is the main delivery agent of road safety. The responsibility to implement, fund, deliver, promote and enforce local road safety initiatives remains with the Local Authorities under the 1988 Road Traffic Act.
It is for the local council to decide what measures may be appropriate in their local area to “take steps both to reduce and prevent accidents”.
Local authorities are also responsible for the management of local roads, within the rules set by Government, including setting local speed limits where the national limit would not be appropriate.
In Shropshire, the Department for Transport has funded two road safety schemes as part of the Safer Roads Fund, the A5191 and the A529, aiming to reduce risk on England’s most high risk ‘A’ roads.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the governments of (a) Wales and (b) Scotland on growing cross-border rail patronage through open-access passenger rail operations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions specifically on growing cross-border rail patronage through open access with either the government of Wales or Scotland.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long it took her Department to consider each application for a change to the national passenger rail timetable for December 2024; and what the average time was for her Department to determine the outcome of an application.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Operators need to agree their train service level plans and funding in advance of operation allowing enough time for consideration by the Department before they engage with Network Rail's timetable production process. Typically, this is done through an annual business plan cycle with submissions in December and approval in March. However, they can be done through the year and approval time depends on the scale of the change.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure the timely determination of track access applications on changes to the national passenger rail timetable for (a) May 2025 and (b) December 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State supports and encourages Department for Transport contracted operators to make timely application to the industry Track Access process. Track Access decisions are the responsibility of the Office of Rail and Road as independent rail regulator, which has taken steps across industry to improve timely decision-making.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many track access applications concerning changes to the national passenger rail timetable were received for (a) December 2024, (b) May 2025 and (c) December 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold this information. Train operators must submit track access applications to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
The ORR is responsible for making decisions in relation to these applications and its decisions are published on the ORR website.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many urban areas in England with populations of over 17,000 do not have a railway station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is estimated that there are approximately 80 ‘built up areas’ with a population of 20,000 or more that do not contain operational railway stations within England.
Some large cities and towns consist of several built up areas, and whilst a specific built up area may not contain a station, there may be one or more stations within close proximity in a neighbouring built up area.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many urban areas in the West Midlands with populations of over 17,000 do not have a railway station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is estimated that there are approximately 12 ‘built up areas’ with a population of 20,000 or more that do not contain operational railway stations within the West Midlands region.
Some large cities and towns consist of several built up areas, and whilst a specific built up area may not contain a station, there may be one or more stations within close proximity in a neighbouring built up area.