Kidsgrove Railway Station

Joan Walley Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to debate disabled access to Kidsgrove railway station. It is no disrespect to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, if I say that I had rather hoped that Mr Speaker would be in the Chair, because he visited Kidsgrove recently and attended the Kidsgrove youth parliament. I am sure he would have remembered that our young people gave great weight and priority to public transport. Today’s debate is dedicated to them and to those who have set out just how unacceptable it is that, despite the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the subsequent Equality Act 2010, services at Kidsgrove railway station are still not compliant with that disability legislation. The debate is intended to put that right.

I am pleased to see the Minister in his place, and I hope he is as committed to integrated transport as his predecessor was. I wish him well in his new role. I hope that by the time he responds I will have convinced him that when he decides which railway stations across the country are to benefit from the welcome £100 million next phase of the Access for All fund, Kidsgrove railway station should be on the list of successful bids.

I will give a little of the background to the debate. When Kidsgrove moved—it did not actually move, but it moved in terms of boundary changes—back into the parliamentary constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North at the last general election, I looked at the issues that needed my support. I quickly identified the importance of making Kidsgrove railway station accessible to all my constituents. I brought together the county council, the borough council, Kidsgrove town council, the train operating companies and Network Rail to see what we could do. At that meeting, I was really disappointed to find that no one appeared previously to have thought about how to include Kidsgrove station in the bids for Access for All funding that were launched back in 2006.

Many stations had got their bids in and received brand-new disabled facilities. I was particularly impressed by the wonderful architectural design at Denmark Hill station, which had new ramps and had been refurbished. I believe that Long Eaton, in my own region, received £1.6 million to install two new lifts, providing step-free access to both platforms. Sadly, Kidsgrove station did not feature. No bid was made, and as I was told in replies to my letters to the previous Minister, and in meetings that I had with him, the money allocated for station improvements for those with disabilities was all spent.

I then set about arranging further follow-up meetings, with the intention of being ready as soon as the next tranche of funding was announced. It was duly announced that bids were being invited for the 2015 to 2019 period and should be received by 15 November 2013, with a ministerial announcement expected in April 2014. I therefore believe that the debate is timely so that we can leave no stone unturned in securing investment.

I say to the Minister that sometimes it is when one does things for the first time that one really remembers them. If this is his first Adjournment debate in his new role, I hope that he will remember our request.

Why is funding needed in Kidsgrove? It is a town where, in 1777, probably the largest civil engineering project ever carried out in Britain up to that time was completed—the construction of the Harecastle tunnel for the Trent and Mersey canal, which was the combined vision and achievement of James Brindley and Josiah Wedgwood. Subsequently, the railways linked up with the development of the area’s industries. In such a town, one can imagine the frustration that today our otherwise well-kept and much-loved railway station lacks access to three out of four platforms.

I called into the station as recently as last Friday, and I was struck by the staff and volunteers who are working so hard to make the station one of which we can all be proud. Volunteers tend the gardens and the public spaces with great care. They keep it spotlessly clean, freshly painted and well lit—Councillor Elsie Bates is doing a wonderful job. The station has a functioning train information display, ticket machines and notice boards—all the things we would expect. It has a spacious well-laid out car park with bike racks and integrated transport, and there is scope to extend that and adjacent land into a public transport hub—something much championed by local councillors and Jon Honeysett MBE, whom I thank for his work on integrated transport. The station also has efficient and friendly staff, and I saw all those things when I visited last Friday.

The station was rewarded when it deservedly won the best small station award at the community rail awards in 2011. Outside its entrance there are two disabled car parking spaces, clearly marked in yellow paint. If someone is disabled, however, or simply young or old, or if they experience difficulty going up and down the flights of stairs that link the four platforms, perhaps with buggies or heavy luggage, they simply would not be able to get access to three out of the four platforms. That is why it is so important that the Minister responds to this debate.

Services from platforms 2, 3 and 4, to Manchester, Derby, London—including for getting to Parliament—and Crewe, cannot be accessed. To get to Manchester, for example, someone must catch a train to Stoke, change, and board another train to Manchester that goes through Kidsgrove. That leads to the absurd situation whereby anyone who is disabled ends up half an hour later exactly where they started.

It is not only about direct travel to those destinations, but about onward travel, including to the north Wales coast—a particularly popular holiday destination for people from the Potteries—the south coast, Scotland, regional airports, and even to towns and cities with clubs in the premier league and the first division, which are increasingly popular destinations for local football supporters. A further point concerns direct and connecting services to Crewe and south Cheshire, and I thank Jenny Baker of Friends of Sandbach Station, who has gone to great lengths to add her support to our campaign.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Lady for initiating this debate. Her constituency neighbours mine, and news of her effective campaign has reached the Friends of Sandbach Station, who confirmed to me how much it highlights that this is not an isolated problem. I support—of course—her campaign for Kidsgrove station, but may I say that Sandbach station is in a similar situation? It has flat access to one platform, and footbridge access only to three. Therefore, if someone is disabled, they can travel only to Crewe. We have one advantage over Kidsgrove, however, because we have nine disabled parking spaces, not two. Will the Minister also consider Access for All funding for Sandbach?

[Joan Walley]

The hon. Lady’s intervention is helpful because she makes the point to the Minister that the campaign is supported by Members on both sides of the House. The criteria state that it is important that the investment, when it comes, should not be concentrated in London and the south-east. I hope it comes first to Kidsgrove, and secondly to Sandbach and other connecting stations along the line.

On the criteria, let us look at the disability and age demographics. Staffordshire county council’s profile of adult disability in the county from February 2012 shows that there are a total of 4,540 claimants on incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Newcastle has the highest number of service users in residential care and supported accommodation in Staffordshire. That and the proportion of the 16-and-over population claiming disability living allowance—6,720 is well above the national average—gives a good indication of the demographic profile, which is an added reason to prioritise Kidsgrove station in the forthcoming bidding round.

No bid will be signed off without meeting the station footfall criteria. I have mentioned the history of the railways. Jobs in the heavy industries that gave us the local railway have declined, but they have been superseded by jobs in other areas. That has resulted in Kidsgrove becoming a key commuter station to Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent and, as we have just heard, Crewe, Sandbach and elsewhere. Accordingly, footfall at Kidsgrove railway station has gone through the roof, from just 32,192 in 2005-06 to 158,478 in 2011-12. Furthermore, passenger numbers are expected to grow at 21% per year in the coming years. Moreover, there is every indication that that trend will continue. Staffordshire county council has agreed in principle to allow the former Kidsgrove goods yard, which it owns, to be used for extra car parking at the station, increasing the number of places from 55 to 200—a 400% increase in spaces for a car park that tends to operate at capacity.

Closer integration of rail and bus services is proposed. Currently, the nearest bus stops are at least 250 yards from the station, and their location is not obvious to rail users. Re-routing the four local bus services to within sight of the station forecourt will greatly benefit the station. I am hopeful that that will happen. Getting the direct service to Manchester airport reinstated would drastically increase footfall at Kidsgrove and could be the subject of another debate in the House. All in all, I believe that the demographics of Kidsgrove match the criteria.

On local support, which has to be shown if the bid is to go ahead, I can tell the House that the proposal is fully supported by Staffordshire county council, Newcastle borough council, Kidsgrove town council, the local enterprise partnership, East Midlands Trains and London Midland Trains. East Midlands Trains confirmed to my office this morning that Kidsgrove station is its top priority in the next tranche of funding. Virgin, which does not go from the station, has indicated that ramped access would have indirect benefits for its services.

In addition, Clough Hall technology school, which has a specialist autism unit, has sent a letter of support to me. I hope the Minister makes a note of this. It states:

“As the only Church of England secondary school in Staffordshire, our conversion, together with the new build, will increase the number of pupils attending the school, especially those travelling in from other areas. We value inclusivity and would welcome a DDA-compliant footbridge which would give access to all platforms, so that pupils with physical disability can travel by train to our school.”

I have had many letters of support, including from Kidsgrove town council, Crewe town council and Kidsgrove Townswomen’s Guild.

On top of that, a significant number of local people support the bid. I thank the mayor of Kidsgrove, Kyle Robinson, and his fellow councillors for helping with the petition, which I am sure will get even more signatures as awareness of the campaign grows. I also refer the Minister to the recent Environmental Audit Committee report, which I helped to produce, on transport and access to public services, and in particular our conclusion that services be joined up and that disabled people should not be excluded.

I have one final point to bring to the Minister’s attention. When I set out on this campaign, I was led to believe that it was down to the train operating company to make the bid for departmental funding. Many meetings and phone calls later, I seem to have gone around in a circle, because I am now told that the remit rests with Network Rail. The local delivery group and county council also have a role, and the Minister has the final say when the submissions have been made. The whole system is at the very least opaque. It leaves me feeling that those stations that sit within a defined passenger transport executive area stand the best chance of a successful bid.

Kidsgrove must not be penalised because the station is a junction on the edge of the Staffordshire-Cheshire local authority borders, under the jurisdiction of no passenger transport executive and a long way down the line from the headquarters of its train operating company, East Midland Trains. It is also unclear from the guidance issued how complete the business case, costings and designs have to be at the time of the actual submission, and who actually has responsibility for submitting the bid. I do not mind whether it is submitted by East Midland Trains, Staffordshire county council, as the highway authority, or Network Rail. They have all indicated support for the bid. What I do mind is that no one understands the process so the bid is not made on time.

The local delivery groups have an enormous say in how the bids are made. I would like to hear what communication the Minister has had with those groups and what more can be done to make sure that when the decision is announced—I understand it will be in April next year—Kidsgrove railway station is on the list.

I notice that part of the criteria is a local commitment to offering matching funds in round 5. Our local authorities are under a great deal of pressure and I do not quite know where that matching funding would come from, but I am happy to sit down with the Minister to discover whether matching funds can come from other Departments to help to make our case. We urgently need Kidsgrove railway station to be compliant with disability legislation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley) on securing the debate on disabled access at Kidsgrove station. I am delighted to be covering this role tonight in the House and, like my predecessor, I am committed to ensuring accessibility. In recent years, expectations about accessibility have rightly changed, both among disabled passengers and the railway industry, and that is even more the case after the success of our transport networks in providing accessible journeys during last year’s Olympics and Paralympics.

Unfortunately, as the hon. Lady recognised when she gave the history of Kidsgrove station, many of our railway stations date from Victorian times, including Kidsgrove, which first opened in 1848. These 19th century stations were not built with the needs of 21st century passengers in mind, and that has left us with a huge task in ensuring that the expectations of disabled passengers are met by opening up the rail network to them.

Clearly, accessible stations make a huge difference to people’s journey experience, not only for people with reduced mobility, but also for those carrying heavy luggage or pushing unwieldy pushchairs. I am grateful that the hon. Lady acknowledged that we remain committed to making further improvements in this area and have continued to support, and indeed expand, the Access for All programme, launched in 2006 by the previous Government. The programme was worth £370 million in 2004-05 prices, and will deliver accessible routes at more than 150 stations.

To demonstrate value for money to the Treasury and the Office of Rail Regulation, I am happy to confirm that the funding has been targeted at the busiest stations. By using a weighting mechanism that allowed us to look at stations’ footfall figures overlaid with census data on disability, we have tried to ensure that as many disabled people as possible can benefit from funding. Approximately a third of the stations were chosen to ensure a fair geographical spread across the country. We took into account the views of train operators and the proximity to facilities such as hospitals, schools for disabled children and military rehabilitation centres—factors that the hon. Lady raised in her speech.

One hundred and five projects are now complete and we expect the rest of the programme to be substantially complete by April next year, a full year ahead of the initial plans. If we look at the scale of the work and what it has done for the ability to open up accessibility for disabled people, there are some significant engineering projects: Clapham Junction, the busiest station in Europe, is now completely accessible for the first time in its 150 year history. We should not be complacent, however.

The hon. Lady is right to say that last year’s high-level output statement included a further £100 million to extend the Access for All programme to 2019. I hear what she says about the process being opaque. I will touch on this in more depth in a moment, but I think it is relatively well known that it is for local delivery groups—Network Rail and the train operating companies—to liaise with local authorities in making nominations. We have asked the rail industry to nominate stations for inclusion in the new £100 million programme. I recognise the efforts made by the hon. Lady, and both Network Rail and East Midlands Trains are undoubtedly aware of the desire of the local population for Kidsgrove station to be a top priority. I note her comment that East Midlands Trains has confirmed to her today that it regards Kidsgrove as its top priority. I am sure that will help in the nomination process.

The industry has a number of local delivery groups across the country that were set up to administer the national stations improvement programme in control period 4, which is just about to end. We have asked them to expand their role and nominate stations for the Access for All programme, which has been extended with an extra £100 million. Each group contains representatives from train operating companies and Network Rail. While we continue to believe that the busiest stations remain the priority, we also believe that there should be a fair distribution of investment across the country.

I listened to the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) concerning Sandbach station. I recognise that there is a problem, with flat access to only one platform. If the only place one can travel to is Crewe, wonderful though it may be, that is rather a limiting experience.

We want the industry to take into account other factors, such as improving inter-urban journeys. The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North mentioned the availability of third party match funding, which can be used to weight business cases for individual station projects. I am happy to extend to her the meeting she requested, and she is welcome to come to the Department to discuss match funding possibilities for Kidsgrove, which will help us to speed up delivery. I would expect local authorities to take that into account in their submissions to local delivery groups, and I would also expect the views of local authorities to be taken into account by those local delivery groups when they make their nominations.

[Joan Walley]

Will the Minister tell us how the process will work? Who will submit the bid: local delivery groups, operating companies or local authorities?

[Stephen Hammond]

The local delivery group is a combination of Network Rail and the operators within the region, and it is for the local delivery group to make that submission and that nomination. The industry has been asked to complete the nomination process for extended Access for All by 15 November. The Department is receiving nominations as we speak, and the process will be open, as I say, until 15 November. Once we have received them, officials at the Department will analyse all the nominations before a final decision is taken on which stations will receive funding. I hope to be able to announce the successful bidding round, starting at the beginning of the next control period, by April next year.

After the hon. Lady’s comments tonight, I am certainly aware of the access issues at Kidsgrove station—and, indeed, at Sandbach—but I also know that there are many other stations across the network that have seen passenger numbers rising. The impressive increase in footfall at Kidsgrove, seen in the figures verified by the Office of Rail Regulation, will undoubtedly form part of the case made by the local delivery group when it makes its nomination.

I will certainly welcome a nomination from Kidsgrove. I want to put on record the fact that the Department will welcome nominations from as many stations as possible. As the hon. Lady will understand, although I would welcome her nomination, I cannot guarantee that any particular station will necessarily be funded or included in the programme once it has been nominated. What I can guarantee is that it will be considered carefully, along with the nominations of all the other inaccessible stations across the country.

Access for All is clearly an important part of the funding, but it is also important to remember that improved access could be achieved by using relatively small amounts of funding, combined with some innovative thinking by the industry. That would be particularly important if Kidsgrove’s application were to prove unsuccessful, when the hon. Lady might like to consider some of the alternatives I am about to mention. There is an annual small schemes fund of around £7 million a year. It is allocated between the train operating companies and is based on the number of stations they manage and how busy those stations are. Since 2006, more than £100 million of investment, including contributions from the train operators and local authorities, has seen projects delivered at almost 1,100 of the country’s 2,500 stations. A variety of projects have been supported under the small schemes, including better provision of accessible toilets, customer information services, blue badge parking spaces and features such as induction loops at ticket offices.

[Joan Walley]

Will the Minister acknowledge that using small scheme funding for Kidsgrove will not really work? It is at a junction and two lines come through it, and which was constructed in such a way that it has overhead cables, it greatly puts up the potential costs, probably beyond what would be admissible under the small schemes funds. It will have to come out of Access for All funding.

[Stephen Hammond]

I hear what the hon. Lady says. I looked at the diagram of Kidsgrove station so I am aware of her point. None the less, I think that there might be some possibilities under the small schemes, and I would not wish to rule them out. I hope I am outlining some other possibilities to her.

The hon. Lady will also be aware that in 2011 we released £37.5 million of Access for All mid-tier funding to help projects needing a slightly greater amount of support—up to £1 million. A total of 42 such projects have so far been successful. A number of stations considered the issue the hon. Lady mentioned about students at the local college. The lifts at Alton station, for example, which benefited Treloar college for the physically disabled, came into being through this mid-tier funding.

Access for All funding has clearly been a huge success, but I do not want to give the impression that it is all that we are doing because Access for All is over and above the work being done through major investments being delivered by train operators. They are required to invest an average of £250,000 a year under their minor works programmes on improving stations. Most of that is exclusively spent on access improvements. Each operator is also required to have a disabled people’s protection policy in place as part of their licence to operate services.

It is important to understand that Access for All is key. I will look forward to and welcome the nomination, but much else is going on. We are working with the industry to ensure that we have much wider access for—