Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of control period seven of the Access for All programme.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, the Government confirmed £350m of additional funding will be made available to improve the accessibility of stations across Great Britain through the Access for All programme.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps her Department has taken with Network Rail to make Whitchurch railway station fully accessible.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, the Government confirmed £350m of additional funding will be made available to improve the accessibility of stations across Great Britain. We are assessing over 300 nominations for Access for All funding, including a nomination for Whitchurch railway station. If successful, the funding will create an obstacle free, accessible route from the station entrance to platforms. Successful nominations will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bus routes there were in each (a) constituency and (b) region in each year since 2015.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not routinely collect statistics on the number of bus routes by constituency or region.
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 15 January 2024 to Question 8274 on Transport: North Shropshire, how the £1 billion allocated for Bus Service Improvement Plans will be spent in each local authority.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government asked for every local authority to work with their bus operators to develop a clear, detailed, and ambitious local Bus Service Improvement Plans. Local authorities, working with local operators, will determine how best to support local services.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of Network North funding will be allocated to improving public transport connections in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network North has committed to redirected money from HS2 with the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 reinvested in the North, the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands reinvested in the Midlands, and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston being spread across every other region in the country. We continue to work with our delivery partners to develop plans and deliver all projects and schemes announced as part of Network North, including agreement of funding allocations.
Of the £9.6 billion for the Midlands, North Shropshire will benefit from funding from a number of schemes under Network North:
It is important to note that it is at the discretion of Local Authorities to determine the allocation of funds from each of these schemes to specific projects and which schemes they choose to deliver within their areas.
Additionally, as part of Network North, we’ve committed to restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen line which will drive tourism, boosts local businesses, and encourage investment in the Shropshire area. We will announce further details in due course.
The Department has conditionally approved funding of £54.4 million towards the cost of the proposed Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road which would provide a new 4.5 mile single carriageway road linking the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. Approval is conditional on Shropshire Council securing planning and other legal consents, carrying out procurement and submitting a Full Business Case.
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 press notice entitled Find out about every new transport project in your region, published on 5 October 2023, how much and what proportion of funding for local transport connections across areas in the West and East Midlands outside the city regions will be spent on transport in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network North has committed to redirected money from HS2 with the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 reinvested in the North, the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands reinvested in the Midlands, and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston being spread across every other region in the country. We continue to work with our delivery partners to develop plans and deliver all projects and schemes announced as part of Network North, including agreement of funding allocations.
Of the £9.6 billion for the Midlands, North Shropshire will benefit from funding from a number of schemes under Network North:
It is important to note that it is at the discretion of Local Authorities to determine the allocation of funds from each of these schemes to specific projects and which schemes they choose to deliver within their areas.
Additionally, as part of Network North, we’ve committed to restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen line which will drive tourism, boosts local businesses, and encourage investment in the Shropshire area. We will announce further details in due course.
The Department has conditionally approved funding of £54.4 million towards the cost of the proposed Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road which would provide a new 4.5 mile single carriageway road linking the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. Approval is conditional on Shropshire Council securing planning and other legal consents, carrying out procurement and submitting a Full Business Case.
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 his Department's press release of 4 October 2023 on the redirection of HS2 funding to transport across the North and Midlands, what newly funded road schemes in the Midlands will be (a) in North Shropshire constituency and (b) funded by money redirected from HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network North has committed to redirected money from HS2 with the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 reinvested in the North, the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands reinvested in the Midlands, and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston being spread across every other region in the country. We continue to work with our delivery partners to develop plans and deliver all projects and schemes announced as part of Network North, including agreement of funding allocations.
Of the £9.6 billion for the Midlands, North Shropshire will benefit from funding from a number of schemes under Network North:
It is important to note that it is at the discretion of Local Authorities to determine the allocation of funds from each of these schemes to specific projects and which schemes they choose to deliver within their areas.
Additionally, as part of Network North, we’ve committed to restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen line which will drive tourism, boosts local businesses, and encourage investment in the Shropshire area. We will announce further details in due course.
The Department has conditionally approved funding of £54.4 million towards the cost of the proposed Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road which would provide a new 4.5 mile single carriageway road linking the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. Approval is conditional on Shropshire Council securing planning and other legal consents, carrying out procurement and submitting a Full Business Case.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of the funding for the Midlands Rail Hub will be spent in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network North has committed to redirected money from HS2 with the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 reinvested in the North, the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands reinvested in the Midlands, and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston being spread across every other region in the country. We continue to work with our delivery partners to develop plans and deliver all projects and schemes announced as part of Network North, including agreement of funding allocations.
Of the £9.6 billion for the Midlands, North Shropshire will benefit from funding from a number of schemes under Network North:
It is important to note that it is at the discretion of Local Authorities to determine the allocation of funds from each of these schemes to specific projects and which schemes they choose to deliver within their areas.
Additionally, as part of Network North, we’ve committed to restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen line which will drive tourism, boosts local businesses, and encourage investment in the Shropshire area. We will announce further details in due course.
The Department has conditionally approved funding of £54.4 million towards the cost of the proposed Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road which would provide a new 4.5 mile single carriageway road linking the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. Approval is conditional on Shropshire Council securing planning and other legal consents, carrying out procurement and submitting a Full Business Case.
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 Written Statement of 20 November 2023 entitled Network North: Highways maintenance funding increase, HCWS46, how the £2.2 billion of highways maintenance funding for the Midlands will be spent in each constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 4 October 2023, the Government announced £8.3 billion of additional highways maintenance funding over the period 2023 to 2024 and the next 10 years for local road resurfacing and wider maintenance activity on the local highway network. This consists of £2.2 billion for Local Authorities in the West Midlands and East Midlands. Local Authorities will decide where and how this money is spent.
All allocations are available online.
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 his Department has provided for bus services in real terms in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has provided a total of £3.47 billion (£2.8 billion in real terms (2010/11 prices)) for bus services between 2018/19 to 2022/23. This includes the Bus Service Operators Grant, Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, Bus Recovery Grant, Commonwealth Games funding, £2 Bus Fare Cap, and Bus Service Improvement Plan funding.
The breakdown of this by year is as follows:
2018/19 - £244 million (£215 million in 2010/11 prices)
2019/20 - £249 million (£214 million in 2010/11 prices)
2020/21 - £1.2 billion (£974 million in 2010/11 prices)
2021/22 - £899 million (£729 million in 2010/11 prices)
2022/23 - £873 million (£671 million in 2010/11 prices)
In addition, on 4 October, as part of Network North, we announced a further £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands via BSIP, making them more frequent, more reliable, cheaper, and easier to use. We are also extending the £2 bus fare cap until the end of 2024, meaning we are investing nearly £600 million in total to cap bus fares across England since the scheme was launched. On top of this, we have announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.