Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of winter grit salt bins that were provided by local authorities for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on highway authorities to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.
It is for local highway authorities to determine what the most appropriate measures are to achieve this, based on local circumstances.
Most local highway authorities publish information about their winter service online. For example, Oldham Council’s website states that it currently maintains over 600 grit bins. Local people can access a map of where these are located and request new grit bins.
The Government also conducts a survey of local highway authorities every year to gather information about their preparations for winter and planning for extreme weather. This survey is mandatory, and includes information about how many continuous days their salt stocks will last for in severe winter conditions. It does not include detailed information about how many grit bins each authority maintains or where these are located.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) licensing authorities in England whose policies permit the licensing of drivers with non-UK driving licences and (b) licensed taxi and private hire vehicle drivers who hold a non-UK driving licence, by the country of issue of those licences.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled due to staff shortages in each year since 2015; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of those cancellations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold a complete historical dataset of cancellations specifically attributed to staff shortages dating back to 2015. However, Network Rail collects management information on the percentage of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues. Network Rail has granted permission for this data to be shared, and these figures are presented in Table 1 alongside the annual cancellations score for context.
The ‘Annual cancellation score’ represents the average cancellation score for each year covering all causes of cancellations. The ‘Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues’ represents the average cancellations specifically attributable to traincrew-related issues.
Table 1: Annual Average of Train Cancellations and Cancellations as a result of Traincrew Issues in Great Britain (2014/15 to 2024/25)
Financial Year | Annual Cancellations score (%)1 | Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues (%) |
2014/15 | x | 0.3% |
2015/16 | x | 0.4% |
2016/17 | x | 0.7% |
2017/18 | x | 0.4% |
2018/19 | x | 0.6% |
2019/20 | 3.4% | 0.8% |
2020/21 | 2.1% | 0.3% |
2021/22 | 3.3% | 1.1% |
2022/23 | 3.8% | 1.1% |
2023/24 | 3.8% | 1.0% |
2024/25 | 4.1% | 1.2% |
Source: Network Rail and ORR Table 3124 Trains planned and cancellations by operator and cause (periodic)
Notes:
The Department has not made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of cancellations due to traincrew shortages. The Department has been working closely with the industry to increase the number of train drivers. Network Rail report that the proportion of trains cancelled because of traincrew issues has fallen from 1.19% in the year to January 2025 to 0.85% in the year to September (rail period 8). Network Rail report this is the lowest proportion of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues (MAA) in nearly 4 years.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the level of the build-up of traffic congestion and (b) the effectiveness of traffic light sequencing on the A663 Broadway in Chadderton, Oldham.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has made no assessment of traffic congestion or the sequencing of traffic lights on this road. Traffic management is the responsibility of the relevant highway authority who are best placed to understand traffic flows and signal sequencing.
Traffic authorities are subject to the statutory network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to secure the ‘expeditious movement’ of all traffic, with a view to reducing congestion, and they have a wide range of tools already available to them to enable this.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of detrunking the A663 Broadway in Chadderton, Oldham.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
During the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) covering the period 2020-25, National Highways undertook a comprehensive review of the extent of the Strategic Road Network (SRN). The A663 Broadway in Chadderton was not identified for assessment and therefore was not included in that review. As part of the forthcoming third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) for 2026-31, National Highways will revisit the scope of the SRN, and this corridor may therefore be considered for inclusion in a future assessment.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicle registration numbers are held on expired retention certificates; and what the estimated value of those registration numbers is.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While the information requested about expired retention certificates may be available, it would need to be extracted from different databases and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has been made of the average age of (a) passenger carrier vehicle buses and coaches, (b) private hire taxis and (c) Hackney carriages in England for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold data on the average age of buses or coaches.
However, the Department publishes data on the proportion of local buses by year of manufacture in the Annual Bus Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table BUS06f, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#vehicles-operated-by-local-bus-operators-bus06. Prior to 2022 average age of the bus fleet was collected instead of year of manufacture.
The Department also publishes data on the average age of taxis and private hire vehicles in the Taxi and Private Hire Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table TAXI0116, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/taxi01-taxis-private-hire-vehilces-and-their-drivers. The Department does not hold these data for years prior to 2020.
The Department does not hold data on the average age of Hackney carriages.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimare has been made of the average frequency of gully cleaning by highway authorities in England from 2015 to date.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.
Although the Government does not monitor the frequency of gully cleaning by highway authorities in England, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance and as part of an annual winter survey of authorities.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department expects bus usage in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester to return to pre-covid levels.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including in Greater Manchester, whilst recognising that travel patterns have changed since the COVID pandemic. We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and empowering them to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, strengthened Enhanced Partnerships or local authority bus companies.
We are also investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £66.4 million has been allocated to Greater Manchester Combined Authority. This funding can be used to introduce measures to help increase bus usage, for example expanding services and improving reliability.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles have been seized by the DVLA for not having valid vehicle excise duty in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham by vehicle class in each year since 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not available in the detail or format requested. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) officials will write to the honourable member with the relevant information that is available when it has been extracted and assured.