Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, of the £21 billion of new local transport funding announced across the Comprehensive Spending Review period, how much funding is allocated to (a) Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, (b) Mayoral Strategic Authorities, and (c) local councils not within a combined authority.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will receive c£7.7bn of transport funding through their integrated settlement over the Spending Review period from 2026/27 to 2029/30 (to 2028/29 for Resource Funding).
Mayoral Strategic Authorities with a mayor in place will receive c£4bn of transport funding through the Mayoral Transport Fund over the same period.
All other local transport authorities will receive c£9.6bn of local transport funding over the Spending Review period, via the Integrated Transport Fund and Bus Services Fund. This includes c£1.2bn for Foundation Strategic Authorities (combined authorities without an elected mayor) and c£2.9bn for local authorities that are part of the Devolution Priority Programme and are due to be established as Mayoral Transport Authorities.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how competition regulations on state aid are applied by the Office of Rail and Road when assessing applications for Open Access rail services; and what changes are expected following the ORR's move into her Department.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the current framework, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is responsible for making access decisions in line with its statutory duties. Moving forward, this will change as Great British Railways takes over responsibility for managing access to the network and ORR takes on a new role to hold GBR to account and ensure fairness and transparency for all operators. ORR will not, however, become part of the Department for Transport – it will remain independent.
All public bodies, including ORR and the future GBR, are obliged to comply with subsidy control and competition legislation across all of their activities, and this will remain the case.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which English counties do not have a direct train link to London; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lack of such links on those counties.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The only English county that does not have a direct train service from London is Shropshire.
The department requires its operators to plan services and rail timetables that are designed to meet expected passenger demand and provide value for money for the taxpayer. Looking ahead to GBR, this offers us the opportunity to go further with optimising train services and driving up utilisation. Through GBR’s directing mind function, services and timetables will be developed in a coherent fashion that drives up network performance and improves the journey experience.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will ensure that access rights to the network are fair, transparent and enforceable, particularly where Great British Rail will both manage infrastructure and operate services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new access framework within the Railways Bill will ensure that GBR will determine the best use of the network capacity for all operators in accordance with its statutory duties. New legislation will include key safeguards for third party operators, ensuring that GBR’s decisions on network access are fair and transparent with a strong route of appeal to the ORR. GBR will be required to design and consult with industry on its access and use policy which will set out the processes and criteria on how it will take access and capacity allocation decisions, and on which the ORR will be a statutory consultee.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that Metro Mayors retain roles in heavy rail governance under the provisions of the Railways Bill.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways (GBR) will work in partnership with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, underpinned by statutory roles outlined in the Railways Bill. The Railways Bill enables cooperation between GBR and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, allowing for information sharing and the ability to enter into arrangements regarding railway functions.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she will take to assess passenger affordability when setting rail fares.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Passenger affordability is a top priority for this Government when setting rail fares. That is why this year we have taken the historic step of freezing regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years, putting money back in hard working people’s pockets and delivering savings for passengers across billions of journeys.
It is important that we strike the right balance between affordability for passengers and reducing the burden on taxpayers. As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the Railways Bill, future fares policy under Great British Railways (GBR) will be guided by strategic parameters and guardrails, set by the Secretary of State and aligned to GBR’s financial settlement, providing GBR with greater autonomy and flexibility compared to today. These will reassure passengers that their fares will remain affordable, while ensuring sustainable use of taxpayer money on the network.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Railways Bill will set out the duties of the Great British Railways.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Railways Bill includes a range of duties which will apply across the activities of GBR. Clause 18 sets the general duties which will apply to GBR, the ORR, the Secretary of State for Transport, and Scottish and Welsh Ministers.
The general duties include promoting the interests of passengers, and promoting high standards of rail service performance. They set the foundation for how GBR will operate, guided by the public interest, and empowered to deliver a railway that works for its users, taxpayers and the wider public.
The Government has published a collection of fact sheets relating to the Railways Bill which can be found on the Gov.uk website. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/railways-bill
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will support improved connectivity for communities currently without such links.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Railways Bill will streamline the current fragmented system by establishing Great British Railways (GBR) as a new ‘directing mind’ for the industry, unifying track and train under one public body to deliver better services for passengers and customers, and better value for money for taxpayers.
GBR will work collaboratively with devolved leaders and local stakeholders to support local rail needs and improved integration with other modes.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to lay secondary legislation enabling local authorities outside London to enforce against pavement parking.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We will lay secondary legislation later in 2026 to give local authorities powers to issue Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles parked in a way that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement.
At the next opportunity we will then introduce the necessary primary legislation to make powers available on an opt-in basis to Local Transport Authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their whole area. They will also have powers to exempt locations where pavement parking would still be necessary to maintain traffic flow, such as in narrow streets. Where there is no Strategic Authority, Unitary Authorities and County Councils would also have the choice to opt in.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of National Highways' work to improve road safety on the A5 and A458.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport has not conducted a specific assessment of the adequacy of National Highways' work to improve road safety on the English sections of the A5 and A458.
The Department assesses safety across the Strategic Road Network which includes motorways and major A-roads managed by National Highways using a combination of data-driven analysis, risk-based assessments, and post-project evaluations.