Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling harassment on trains against women and girls in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.
Last month, the Department and Greater Manchester Combined Authority jointly hosted a Safer Streets, Safer Transport Summit which brought together representatives from across the transport industry, Government, local authorities (including the North East Combined Authority), the third sector and policing to commit to taking action against anti-social behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Hexham Station has a very low crime rate, with no sexual offences reported this year or in 2024/25.
BTP officers in the North East attend the local Safer Transport Regional Group and the Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport Partnership Working Group, strengthening collaboration with partners and focusing joint efforts on preventing these offences.
BTP deliver numerous public campaigns to increase VAWG reporting across the network including in the North East. The Rail Delivery Group also delivers its ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which is aimed at educating people about the different types of sexual harassment and encouraging reporting to the BTP or anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussion her Department is having with relevant stakeholders to help tackle harassment against women and girls on trains in the North East.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade. The Department is committed to working with the rail industry and the British Transport Police (BTP) to ensure this is the case.
Last month, the Department and Greater Manchester Combined Authority jointly hosted a Safer Streets, Safer Transport Summit which brought together representatives from across the transport industry, Government, local authorities (including the North East Combined Authority), the third sector and policing to commit to taking action against anti-social behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
BTP officers in the North East attend the local Safer Transport Regional Group and the Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport Partnership Working Group, strengthening collaboration with partners and focusing joint efforts on preventing these offences.
BTP deliver numerous public campaigns to increase VAWG reporting across the network including in the North East. The Rail Delivery Group also delivers its ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which is aimed at educating people about the different types of sexual harassment and encouraging reporting to the BTP or anonymously to crime stoppers.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Road Safety Strategy on people in the North East.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. We intend to publish the Strategy this year.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Road Safety Strategy on people in Northumberland.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. We intend to publish the Strategy this year.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Road Safety Strategy on people in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. We intend to publish the Strategy this year.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions the Department is having with relevant stakeholders on improving local bus services in Northumberland.
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 the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.
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 investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions the Department is having with relevant stakeholders on improving local bus services in the Hexham constituency.
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 the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.
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 investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what conversations the Department is having with relevant stakeholders to improve local bus services in the North East.
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 the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.
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 investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on supporting people to use electric vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Officials from the Department for Transport regularly engage with the Department for Infrastructure on initiatives to support the use of zero emission vehicles (ZEV). Minister Lightwood met the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure in April during the British Irish Council meeting, and the Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure earlier this month [November] as part of the Interministerial Group for Transport. Both meetings included discussions on the ZEV transition.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on improving step- free access at train stations in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Several stations in the Hexham constituency have a degree of step free access, but this often involves use of level crossings, steep ramps or long walking routes between platforms and this is far from ideal.
No stations in the constituency were put forward for accessibility upgrades during the latest round of Access for All funding nominations in 2022, meaning they were not considered by the previous Government.
Nominations for future rounds of Access for All funding will benefit from strong industry support and a proportion of third-party match funding, helping to ensure that investment delivers the greatest benefit to passengers. In the meantime, if any passengers are unable to use a particular station train operators are obliged to provide alternative accessible transport at no additional cost.