Petitions

Jake Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

I rise to present this petition to the House of Commons about access to bus services for my constituents across North Shropshire. Shropshire has some of the poorest services in the country. The petition was signed by 1,611 of my constituents who are frustrated by the lack of available transport. Many people struggle to get to medical appointments and high streets, while some businesses are dealing with significant shortages in recruitment for the simple reason that staff cannot get work without public transport connections. This petition declares that rural communities should be provided with improved access to bus and public transport services to better connect towns and villages, particularly to public services.

The petition states:

The petition of residents of North Shropshire,

Declares that residents are concerned by the poor bus services in North Shropshire; express their frustration at struggling to use public transport to travel to key amenities like hospitals and schools; convey their difficulties in securing work opportunities due to lack of transport connections; and note that currently only one bus service operates on Sundays throughout the constituency.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to take their concerns into account and act to ensure that bus connections are available to the residents of North Shropshire seven days per week, connecting local villages and towns.

And the petitioners remain, etc.

[P002837]

[Sir Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)]

I rise to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Rossendale and Darwen regarding roadworks in the Rossendale valley. My petition has had more than 1,700 signatures, both on paper and online.

The petition states:

The petition of residents of the constituency of Rossendale and Darwen,

Declares that there are major traffic issues across the Rossendale Valley which are caused by temporary traffic lights, thus holding up traffic and causing congestion; further declares that this could be solved by using a Statutory Instrument to allow Lancashire County Council to adopt a ‘lane rental scheme’; furthermore, this would mean that utility companies would have to pay to close the road to carry out their work and repairs; notes that this scheme is already in place across London and has proven to reduce traffic significantly by incentivising companies to carry out work quickly and efficiently.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to take into account the concerns of the petitions and take immediate action to give Lancashire County Council the power to charge companies who dig up roads.

And the petitioners remain, etc.

[P002838]