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
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
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.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the extent of pothole repairs in Ashfield required to be made by Ashfield District Council.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Nottinghamshire County Council, as local highway authority, is responsible for the maintenance of its local road network, which includes the area covered by Ashfield District Council. Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area.
Whilst the Government does not intervene in highway maintenance decisions, the settlement announced at Spending Review 2021 represents a funding level consistent with 2021/22: £915 million per year for local highway maintenance, outside London and combined authorities receiving city region settlements (CRSTS), committed for three years.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the safety of roads across Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As part of the Department for Transport’s Safer Roads Fund project, the A634 in Nottinghamshire was funded in our first round of road safety schemes to the amount of £2,181,000. Work on this road was completed in 2020 in collaboration with Nottinghamshire County Council.
The Safer Roads Fund encourages local authorities to adopt a safe system principle, improving roads and creating infrastructure for active travel.
Responsibility, however, of the local road network, including safety, remains the role of Nottinghamshire County Council. They are best suited to understand the safety of roads across their area and to implement appropriate interventions.