Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of her Department’s budget for (a) investment spending until 2029-30 and (b) day-to-day spending until 2028-29 is allocated to the Access for All scheme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The recent Spending Review confirmed the Government’s commitment to the Access for All (AfA) programme. Total funding of £280m has been allocated to AfA over the four years of the Spending Review 2025 period, which for capital investment runs from 2026/27 to 2029/30.
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 support the roll-out of demand responsive transport in Shropshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government believes demand responsive transport (DRT) has an important role to play in ensuring communities can access transport services in areas where more traditional, regular stopping services may not be viable.
Shropshire Council has been allocated over £9.2 million of funding since 2023 to improve their bus services. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish. Shropshire have used some of this funding to support an expansion of their Connect On-Demand DRT service in July 2024 and January 2025.
We are also developing DRT Best Practice Guidance, which will share learnings from existing DRT schemes to support local authorities to set up similar schemes.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 65118 on Railways: North Shropshire, whether her Department plans to provide any additional funding to improve railway services to (a) North Shropshire and (b) Shropshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the Spending Review both the Chancellor and Secretary Of State have committed to the transformative Midlands Rail Hub programme, which will upgrade connectivity, reliability and provide capacity for hundreds of extra trains per day into Birmingham, including benefits to those stopping at Shrewsbury and Gobowen. Funding was also confirmed to support feasibility studies for works to improve accessibility for all passengers at 50 stations including at Whitchurch in Shropshire.
Later this year the Department will review the case for line speed improvements between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury when the business case is completed. Any funding would be subject to a satisfactory business case which represents value for money, affordability and strong benefits for the country.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement on railway stations awarded Access for All accessibility funding, published on 24 May 2024, what her planned timeline is for the completion of Access for All construction at Whitchurch Railway Station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
In May 2024, the previous government selected 50 stations for initial feasibility work for potential upgrades as part of our Access for All programme. This included Whitchurch railway station in Shropshire. We expect to provide an update to stakeholders during the summer.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of potholes in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Shropshire Council, as a local highway authority, has been allocated the following highway maintenance funding since 2015:
Year | Highways Maintenance funding for Shropshire Council |
2015/16 | £16,498,000 |
2016/17 | £16,160,000 |
2017/18 | £18,756,250 |
2018/19 | £20,588,000 |
2019//20 | £16,948,396 |
2020/21 | £30,253,000 |
2021/22 | £20,599,000 |
2022/23 | £20,599,000 |
2023/24 | £26,880,000 |
2024/25 | £23,218,000 |
2025/26 | £33,680,000 |
The Government has already provided an additional £500 million increase for local highway maintenance this financial year. As a result of this increase, Shropshire Council will receive up to £9.1 million more in additional funding.
Building on this, at the spending review the Chancellor announced that the Government will be providing £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country. This funding increase will allow National Highways and local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding her Department has provided to Shropshire Council to fill potholes in each year since 2015.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Shropshire Council, as a local highway authority, has been allocated the following highway maintenance funding since 2015:
Year | Highways Maintenance funding for Shropshire Council |
2015/16 | £16,498,000 |
2016/17 | £16,160,000 |
2017/18 | £18,756,250 |
2018/19 | £20,588,000 |
2019//20 | £16,948,396 |
2020/21 | £30,253,000 |
2021/22 | £20,599,000 |
2022/23 | £20,599,000 |
2023/24 | £26,880,000 |
2024/25 | £23,218,000 |
2025/26 | £33,680,000 |
The Government has already provided an additional £500 million increase for local highway maintenance this financial year. As a result of this increase, Shropshire Council will receive up to £9.1 million more in additional funding.
Building on this, at the spending review the Chancellor announced that the Government will be providing £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country. This funding increase will allow National Highways and local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many serious vehicle accidents caused by potholes have resulted in a driver or passenger death in (a) North Shropshire constituency and (b) Shropshire in each year since 2020.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Statistics on reported road injury collisions in Great Britain are published based on data reported by police via the data collection known as STATS19.
Within STATS19, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 factors which they believe may have contributed to the collision, including ‘poor or defective road surface’. Contributory factors are assigned based on the opinions of the reporting officer at the scene or within a short time of the collision, rather than a detailed investigation.
The number of serious collisions in Shropshire and North Shropshire (constituency) where a police officer assigned the contributory factor “poor or defective road surface” are given in the table below:
Year | North Shropshire (constituency) | Shropshire |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 2 |
2022 | 2 | 3 |
2023 | 1 | 1 |
There were no drivers or passengers killed in collisions in Shropshire and North Shropshire (constituency) where a police officer assigned the contributory factor “poor or defective road surface” between 2020 to 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many serious vehicle accidents have resulted from potholes in (a) North Shropshire constituency and (b) Shropshire in each year since 2020.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Statistics on reported road injury collisions in Great Britain are published based on data reported by police via the data collection known as STATS19.
Within STATS19, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 factors which they believe may have contributed to the collision, including ‘poor or defective road surface’. Contributory factors are assigned based on the opinions of the reporting officer at the scene or within a short time of the collision, rather than a detailed investigation.
The number of serious collisions in Shropshire and North Shropshire (constituency) where a police officer assigned the contributory factor “poor or defective road surface” are given in the table below:
Year | North Shropshire (constituency) | Shropshire |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 2 |
2022 | 2 | 3 |
2023 | 1 | 1 |
There were no drivers or passengers killed in collisions in Shropshire and North Shropshire (constituency) where a police officer assigned the contributory factor “poor or defective road surface” between 2020 to 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her oral statement of 8 July 2025 on Road and Rail Projects, what assessment she has made of potential impact of those projects on (a) jobs and (b) journey times in North Shropshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Backed by over £92 billion from the Spending Review settlement, the Government is delivering the biggest boost to England’s transport infrastructure in a generation, and unlocking schemes that deliver for the taxpayer and drive growth.
Millions of commuters and businesses will benefit from quicker journeys, as more than fifty road and rail upgrades have been given the green light - including funding for the Midlands Rail Hub as well as the M54 / M6 link road, which will help to cut journey times and connect thousands to key economic hubs across the Midlands and North Shropshire.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to include upgrades to the A483 in North Shropshire in the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3).
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Whilst I cannot commit to upgrades at this stage in the process of setting the next Road Investment Strategy, I can confirm National Highways is investigating a range of options to improve the safety performance of the A483 in North Shropshire which will be considered for possible delivery.