Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the condition of England’s roads.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In addition to investing £1.7 billion in 21/22 into local roads plus an unprecedented £27 billion into the strategic road network through to 2025, the Department is working towards the creation of a common data standard for the monitoring of road condition. This will aim to drive innovation and flexibility in monitoring local roads and enable authorities to target defects in their networks more quickly. Further information, including a Departmental position paper, will be published shortly.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in introducing flexible rail season tickets.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As announced on 20 May alongside the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, the Government is introducing new flexible season tickets across England this year, with the new tickets going on-sale on 21 June, and becoming available for use on 28 June. A new season ticket calculator is available for passengers to check the best value option for their travel plan.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve cross-UK transport links.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Sir Peter Hendy is carrying out the independent Union Connectivity Review, which will report later this year.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement the policies set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government is committed to delivering passenger benefits as quickly as possible, including the introduction of new flexible season tickets, auditing accessibility of stations, a 30-year strategy for the rail industry, and replacing franchising.
This is the biggest change to the railways in three decades and transformation on this scale will not happen overnight. Government is setting up a Rail Transformation Programme within the Department for Transport and working with the rail sector to ensure a common understanding of our vision for the railway, working collectively with the sector to design how this major project will be delivered. The Government will make further announcements on next steps in relation to implementation in due course.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government had already committed £1.5 billion to support the early market and remove barriers to zero emission vehicle (ZEV) ownership. We are now going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emission at the tailpipe. Alongside these new phase out dates we have pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and motorists to make the switch. To underpin our ambitious phase out dates, this year we will publish a delivery plan, an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy and Green Paper on Co2 emission from transport.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of E10 fuel in vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 25th February, we published the Government response to the consultation paper “Introducing E10 petrol”. The Government response confirmed our intention to introduce E10 petrol in September. In advance of the introduction, we launched a public information campaign on 7th June. The campaign will make drivers aware of the changes we are making and how E10 will play a part in helping reduce carbon emissions.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve transport connections in the north of England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2010, over £29 billion has been invested in transport infrastructure in the North to unlock the economic potential of the Northern Powerhouse.
In addition, we are committing over £22bn to fund HS2 Phases One, 2a and 2b Western Leg to deliver North-South connectivity, of great benefit to the Hon. Member’s constituency, and £75m for developing Northern Powerhouse Rail in 2021/22. This comes on top of the billions we expect to spend on improving the Transpennine route between Manchester, Leeds and York, and the £12bn invested in roads in the North over the last 5 years.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve transport connections in rural areas.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government recognises the importance of transport for rural areas and is committed to improving access to services that provide vital connectivity. To improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed, the Government has paid an extra £30 million to local authorities in 2020/21, local authorities have been able to use this to retain or restore services affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Additionally, in March 2021 we awarded funding to 17 pilot projects through the £20m Rural Mobility Fund scheme to trial innovative, demand-responsive solutions to transport challenges that rural and suburban areas often face. Demand responsive transport has the potential to transform the local transport offer in areas where demand is more dispersed, and the distances involved make it more challenging to maintain or provide services which meet residents’ diverse needs.
The Government wants to ensure that the needs of rural transport users are given equal consideration to those in urban areas. We are committed to improving the connectivity of isolated rural communities and those with infrequent and unreliable services.
In 2019, we published the ‘Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy’, setting out our approach to maximising the benefits and managing the risks of new technology in urban areas. We now want to explore the challenges and opportunities for rural areas. Transport innovation has the potential to revolutionise travel within our towns, villages and more remote areas; making it easier for people to access jobs, education or healthcare. It could also provide a boost to rural communities, where people without cars often miss out on opportunities. We are determined to seize these benefits as we begin to explore how future transport solutions and interventions can tackle rural mobility issues, improve connectivity and accessibility, increase low carbon travel options and deliver more integrated transport services.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of cycling and walking.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On 28 July 2020 the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking, with the ambition that half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked by 2030. This includes a £2 billion package of funding for active travel over 5 years, the largest ever boost for cycling and walking.
The first £250 million of the £2 billion was allocated in 2020/21, with much of this going to local authorities enabling them quickly to deliver safe walking and cycling routes in their area. The Department’s latest Road Traffic Estimates for Great Britain suggest that the amount of cycling was 46% higher in 2020 than in 2019, with around 5 billion miles cycled. This is the highest level of cycling on the public highway since the 1960s.
The Government is providing over a quarter of a billion pounds for walking and cycling this financial year, and will be making a further announcement shortly on all it is doing to support this important agenda.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to include the connection to the high speed line north of Crewe in plans for HS2 Phase 2b.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Crewe is already a hub on the existing rail network and following a consultation in 2016, the Government confirmed its vision for a ‘Crewe Hub’, with up to 5 to 7 HS2 trains stopping per hour. Fully realising the Crewe Hub vision will require a junction north of Crewe back to the HS2 Phase 2b mainline and the design is being developed as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail Strategic Outline Business Case.