Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to increase the frequency of bus services in Ashfield and Mansfield constituency.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving local bus services is a key part of this government’s growth mission. The government will introduce a Buses Bill later this Parliamentary session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Ashfield and Mansfield, to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership.
Under franchising, the local authority has control of the bus network including setting routes, timetables and fares.
In addition, the government has confirmed £925 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. Local authorities can use the £925 million to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
The government will continue working closely with local transport authorities including Nottinghamshire County Council, and others, to deliver better bus services throughout England.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to help tackle backlogs of (a) road maintenance and (b) upgrades in Ashfield and Mansfield constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network. Nottinghamshire County Council is the local highway authority for the Ashfield and Mansfield constituency, and they are therefore responsible for the condition of their local network.
This Government has a commitment to enable local highway authorities in England to fix up to a million more potholes a year. At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the current financial year exceeding this Government’s manifesto commitment on repairing local roads.
The Government will confirm funding allocations to English local highway authorities and mayoral combined authorities, including the East Midlands Combined Authority of which Nottinghamshire County Council is a constituent member, in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve road (a) maintenance and (b) conditions in (i) Ashfield constituency and (ii) Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network.
Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) is the local highway authority for the Ashfield constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of the local road network in its area. NCC is a part of the East Midlands Combined Authority (EMCA), and for this financial year the Department for Transport is providing EMCA with £53.9 million of capital funding for local highway maintenance across its area. It is a matter for EMCA to determine how much of this funding to allocate to each of its constituent authorities.
Funding decisions for highways maintenance beyond 2024/25 will be made at the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps is she taking to ensure the health and safety of (a) pedestrians and (b) motorists, in the context of increases in the use of e-bikes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of our roads for all road users. Cyclists, whether riding an e-bike or a conventional pedal cycle, have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and follow the rules set out in The Highway Code. The enforcement of cycling offences, such as cycling on the pavement or cycling without due care or attention, is a matter for the police.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with airport operators on the adequacy of provision within airports for people with (a) autism and (b) other conditions that cause sensory overload.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Aviation accessibility is a priority for government. The Department for Transport is in regular discussions with airport operators and will be hosting workshops on accessibility with the industry in November. These will include considerations around non-visible disabilities and neurodiversity. The government's Disability and Access Ambassador for Aviation also ran a workshop on 5 October 2023 covering how the UK standard for designing and managing the built environment for people with neurodiversity, ‘Design for the Mind,’ can be incorporated into UK airports.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his department will consider the potential merits of flexible funding for the Bus Service Improvement Plan for Nottinghamshire County Council.
Answered by Richard Holden
Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) was one of the successful authorities, under the leadership of Cllr Ben Bradley MP, which bid for and was awarded up to £18,713,800 for delivery of their Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which I know you have welcomed as part of very significant investment in Ashfield and across Nottinghamshire since 2019 to support better jobs and transport to access them.
In line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Local Transport Authority on 10 November 2022, any changes to the agreed delivery plan should be submitted to the Department via a Project Adjustment Request. The Department is actively engaged with NCC to ensure that the BSIP scheme delivers for local people in Ashfield and across Nottinghamshire and I have asked Departmental officials to be flexible in their approach within the boundaries of the Section 31 grant when tweaking the scheme to developing local priorities.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help avoid future railway strikes.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is taking immediate steps to support employers and help members of the public by minimising the disruption that they face as a result of the RMT’s strike action.
A Statutory Instrument has now been laid, under the terms of which employment businesses will be able supply workers to replace striking workers. This will also allow trained staff with transferrable skills to move around the rail industry to cover for striking staff to keep the railways running.
We are working at pace to see how any potential legislative change could be delivered, including looking at the introduction of Minimum Service Level Legislation which would provide a mechanism for a minimum level of train service during periods of strike action.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to connect Nottingham with rural parts of Nottinghamshire via the restoration of the Maid Marian Line.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The bid to progress the case for reopening the Maid Marian line to passenger services was unsuccessful as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme. However, the Government recognises the potential benefits of restoration of the Maid Marian Line and will therefore take the case under consideration as part of the Toton Study.
This study, which was established following the publication of the IRP, will assess accelerating transport improvements at Toton, such as a station for local or regional services. It will also include looking at the synergies and combined business case for proposals to reopen the Maid Marian line to passenger services.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support Trent Barton bus services continue their regular operation schedule across Ashfield and Eastwood.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We have provided unprecedented support for local transport during the pandemic. For bus, operators and local authorities have received funding through the £1.5bn Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant, and the ongoing £226.5m Bus Recovery Grant. Recognising the need for further support, an additional £29m uplift will be provided to recipients of the Bus Recovery Grant this financial year. Trent Barton can access this funding in the same way as other bus services within the sector.
Discussions are ongoing regarding the costs and benefits of measures to support the sector beyond April, and we are working closely with stakeholders to understand the potential challenges and possible mitigations once recovery funding ends.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made subsequent to the National Bus Strategy to deliver new services across Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The National Bus Strategy and subsequent guidance set out clear expectations on what Bus Service Improvement Plans should include. I can confirm that Nottinghamshire’s BSIP has been received by the Department. At the Budget we announced £1.2 billion of new dedicated funding for bus transformation deals, as part of over £3 billion of bus investment across this Parliament. We will announce details of how that funding will be allocated in due course.