Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the transport system supports economic growth in Ossett and Denby Dale constituency.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Kickstarting economic growth across every corner of the UK is the top priority of this Government.

We’re getting on with delivering the Government’s Plan for Change by delivering the basics of a better transport system, including in places across West Yorkshire, where we are providing £830million of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding to help transform their local transport network. This is funding a range of transport improvements that will benefit West Yorkshire’s economy, including development of the first phase of West Yorkshire Mass Transit.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made on the rollout of Project Gigabit in Ossett and Denby Dale constituency.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 99% of premises in the Ossett and Denby Dale constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 96% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).

To improve this coverage further, Quickline is delivering several Project Gigabit contracts across Yorkshire, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to premises in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Work has already commenced in parts of Ossett and Denby Dales.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that new Mayors are accountable to their local areas.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Within Mayoral Combined Authorities and Mayoral Combined County Authorities there is an existing system of accountability and scrutiny arrangements. This system ensures that public spending is achieving value for money.

In the English Devolution White Paper the government set out how it plans to go further and the government’s commitment to strengthening the accountability and scrutiny arrangements of Mayors and the Combined Authorities as greater powers, duties and resources are devolved.

Found: Development Office Jessica Toale MP Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Jade Botterill