Road Safety: West Midlands

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Manuela Perteghella]

I absolutely agree. I would like the county council to focus on what really matters to our residents, rather than spending its first six months in power deciding which flag should fly on which flagpole or talking about other culture war policies. I received an email from a visitor to my constituency who had hit a pothole, which thankfully had not resulted in a crash, but his car had been badly damaged. Now he is in conversation with the county council. This is not good for residents, or for our local visitor economy. The council needs to get a grip on the state of the roads, which obviously contributes to these dangers.

In rural constituencies such as mine, speeding through villages is the norm. Speed limits of 30 mph mean very little when there is no enforcement to back them up. Our country lanes carry cars, lorries, farm vehicles and cyclists, and collision blackspots are all too common. Narrow roads prevent us from having things like chicanes or narrowings, because large farm vehicles obviously need to use the road as well. Street lights are also an issue when we have many dark sky villages. Rural communities feel abandoned due to the lack of police officers and, as the hon. Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) just mentioned, the lack of power for local councils, as well as the lack of attention from Government.

I will focus on some locations in my constituency, but the list is not exhaustive. Rather, it is illustrative of the road safety issues that we all have in the west midlands. One example that I want to put on record is the junction where the A422 Banbury Road meets the B4455 Fosse Way, just east of the village of Ettington. Every day, drivers, cyclists, bikers and farm workers navigate a junction that should never have been designed the way it was. I have been calling on the Department to step in and engage with Warwickshire county council to ensure that this junction gets the full safety review and redesign that it so urgently needs. People have already paid the price for the failure to act.

There are many other dangerous junctions, including Oakleigh Road and Justins Avenue, off the Birmingham Road in Stratford-upon-Avon, with residents reporting near-misses and, sadly, crashes too. I have had meetings with National Highways about the Billesley junction on the A46, but we are still waiting for improvements to that junction, where several fatalities have already happened.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Likewise in Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, we have a clear picture of where our hotspot areas are. The hon. Lady spoke earlier about having teeth and the ability to proactively plan and work with councils and National Highways to ensure that we tackle these problems and prevent accidents from happening before they occur. Does she agree that we need to use our road safety strategy to change the culture from being reactive to being proactive and preventive in order to save lives before people are harmed and hurt?

[Manuela Perteghella]

Yes, at the heart of this debate is changing the culture from local government to national Government. We need to have education and behavioural change, and I will say a bit about that, but the culture also needs to change. We need to be proactive, and we can be, because only then will we save lives.

Speeding near schools an issue. The children of Mappleborough Green primary school have written to me as they are experiencing fear and anxiety when crossing and walking along a very busy road that still has a 40 mph limit. We have a 40 mph limit outside a primary school. We are not getting any support in keeping those young children safe on their journey to school—and I am not even going to touch on the air pollution that the children are experiencing. What does the Minister say to those children?

Constituents have contacted me about speeding on the A3400 through Wootton Wawen village, which is making it difficult for elderly residents to cross the road to go to the post office or the shops and, again, for children to go to school. As the hon. Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) mentioned, we need a shift from reactive to proactive enforcement. We need that cultural shift. We cannot keep waiting for collisions to occur and then investigate the wreckage.

--- Later in debate ---

[Manuela Perteghella]

I fully agree with the hon. Gentleman. With the new national road safety strategy we have a real opportunity to ensure that we reduce serious injuries and deaths on the roads. I hope the Government will take into consideration our views and the responses to the consultation, and will ensure that the guidance is updated so that we are not acting after a fatality, because that is too late. It is too late for the families and for the young drivers who might have crashed—it is lives destroyed. Also, we cannot have a speed reduction policy that is based on how fast the cars are travelling, rather than on the dangers they pose to road users, including children walking to school or elderly residents crossing the road to get to the post office, the shop or their GP.

We must identify the risks before lives are lost and intervene accordingly. That is the change in culture that Members have mentioned, and the change in policy that the Government must now commit to. There must be cultural change at council level, too, as currently there is a reactive culture in which interventions are made only if there is a history of road traffic accidents, and locations with recorded collisions, especially collisions resulting in injury, are prioritised. County highways authorities often use the speed that most drivers do not exceed as data to judge whether a road has a speeding problem, but interventions should not be based on how fast drivers are driving. We need a change to the Department for Transport guidance, which also seems to reinforce reactive behaviour, especially on speed limits. I look forward to hearing about that from the Minister.

A constituent in Bidford-on-Avon—one of my villages—told me recently:

“Current analysis shows that 63% of cars exceed the speed limit through the village.”

I raised this situation with the local police force, which told me that 35 mph is the enforceable limit—but why? The charity Brake says that a pedestrian hit at 30 mph has a one in five chance of being killed, rising to one in three if they are hit at 35 mph. Children can be killed at 30 mph, so why are we waiting to enforce at 35 mph instead of 30 mph?

[Lee Pitcher]

On schools, it is not just about speeding, is it? One the biggest issues is parking outside schools. We need to find a way to help schools to move parents on, or to have others come in—relevant organisations, the police force or National Highways—to support them. We need to give them the teeth or the accountability to come in and provide support; if not, we will lose more children crossing roads between parked cars.

[Manuela Perteghella]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I was a school governor for many years, so I know how teachers write letters to parents to ask them to park considerately, and also not to idle their engines, because obviously that causes lots of pollution, and health issues such as asthma. The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to ensure that schools are given the tools to change behaviour. We can send as many letters as we want, but I often find that the thing that makes parents and carers change their behaviour is the children themselves—children telling their parents that it is walk to school week and that they want to walk rather than drive. The role of education is really important, and even firefighters, policemen or local councillors can go and speak to children at school to change behaviour from the ground up.

Wales and other nations are implementing 20 mph zones. I want to see whether we can learn any lessons from them, but because of all the data that shows how dangerous 30 mph is, I think 20 mph zones should be standard on new residential developments. In one of the new developments in an urban area of my constituency, the new road appears to link houses with a local school, but the speed limit will be set at 50 mph. Again, that was raised with Warwickshire county council, but it just said that it follows national guidelines, despite the council having a suite of active travel policies and the fact that the road goes through a residential estate. It is really difficult to make the council review that limit. We now have so many new houses being built, and this road cannot a have 50 mph limit. We really must ask local highway authorities to do better.

Let me turn to one of the groups we know are most at risk. Young drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 account for just 6% of new driving licences, but they are involved in 24% of fatal and serious collisions. Those are young people from constituencies like mine and across the country who never make it home.

The evidence for what works is not hard to find. Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and every single state in the United States already operate some form of graduated licensing for new drivers. Those schemes are sensible, proportionate and evidence-based, and they include measures such as restrictions on night-time driving, limits on carrying passengers—especially young passengers—in the early months of a licence, and probationary periods marked by visible plates. They save lives. We should be doing the same, and I urge the Government to look at graduated licences and to bring forward proposals without further delay. The RAC believes that a form of graduated licensing for young drivers could help to save lives on our roads. I want to thank my constituents Robbin and Patsy, who have been formidable campaigners for graduated licences and road safety for young people since losing their child.

Road safety is not just about physical measures; it is also about changing driver behaviour. Nationally, I want to highlight the work of THINK!, which has launched important and lifesaving campaigns, from encouraging the use of seatbelts to tackling excessive speed, drink and drugs and, recently, the use of mobile phones at the wheel. Such campaigns must continue to be properly resourced and funded and reach every driver.

The Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership holds an annual memorial service to remember the lives lost and injured on Warwickshire’s roads, which I attended last year. It was a sombre event, because we all knew that all these deaths and injuries could have been prevented. The families of those killed on the roads of the west midlands are not asking for the status quo; they are asking for change that will save lives. I am asking the Government today to deliver it.

[Paulette Hamilton (Birmingham Erdington) (Lab)]

I rise to speak about Chester Road in Erdington, which has become a real concern for many residents because of the repeated serious collisions and fatalities over recent years, the most recent being on 24 May 2026. Residents tell me that although speed restrictions and traffic calming measures have been introduced, too many drivers are simply ignoring them. There is a growing frustration locally that the rules exist on paper, but enforcement and compliance are inconsistent. Many of my constituents in Erdington feel there is a lack of clarity and consistency around speeding policy, particularly around how 20 mph and 30 mph zones are enforced in practice.

Communities need confidence that road safety measures will change drivers’ behaviour, not just introduce more signage. Residents want to see clearer national guidance, stronger enforcement and better co-ordination between councils, police and transport authorities. That is particularly important on major roads such as Chester Road, where speeding has devastating consequences for pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.

[Lee Pitcher]

We have a lot of farming communities and agriculture in the Isle of Axholme, and we have a big issue with horses often being killed on the roads. The space between a car moving at high speed down a country road and a horse is really important. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that we need to take that issue into account, particularly when we talk about the importance of those animals to small and medium-sized businesses in my area?

[Paulette Hamilton]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. Sometimes we do not look at the issues faced by people who live in the countryside because we are looking at the issues that we face on the busy roads in some of our areas. He is right that it is vital that we do not look only at what is happening in cities and we look at rural areas as well. God help me, I would not like to see an animal killed because of something that I or someone else had done on the streets, so I agree with him.

Road safety is not just a transport issue—it is a public safety and public health issue affecting families across Erdington and around the country. Local people should not feel frightened crossing the road, waiting at a bus stop or walking near a busy junction because speeding has become normalised. We cannot accept preventable deaths and serious injuries as simply the cost of using our roads. Will the Minister tell the House how residents can be assured that communities can have confidence that road safety measures will be enforceable on our streets?

--- Later in debate ---

[Simon Lightwood]

I will leave it to the local transport authority to make those kinds of calls, but I urge it to make sure that the safety of children is of paramount importance when making those decisions.

The approach we are describing includes the use of 20 mph limits where appropriate, alongside safer crossing facilities, traffic-calming measures, school streets schemes, enforcement and school travel planning. We support delivery of those measures through national funding, which includes £7.3 billion of capital funding for local highways maintenance. The hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon also mentioned her concern about her local authority, saying that five fatalities need to take place before it takes action. I can say categorically that that is not the case—local authorities do not have to wait for any fatalities before taking action to improve their roads.

Improving road safety is not the responsibility of one organisation alone. It requires action from Government, local authorities, enforcement agencies and road users themselves.

[Lee Pitcher]

I am sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker— I have made lots of interventions today, but this issue is really important to me. On the topic of new developments, Warren Park estate in my area has had new roads for a long time, but some of the markings are not there. The developer and the highways authority need to work together; will the Minister encourage them to do so? There is one specific junction that is particularly dangerous. Will he join me in pushing them to resolve that issue as soon as possible?

[Simon Lightwood]

I very much hope that those people will have heard my hon. Friend’s message and will take action to ensure that everybody is safe using the roads.

As I was saying, road safety is not the responsibility of one organisation alone; it requires action from Government, from local authorities, from enforcement agencies and from road users themselves. This Government are determined to reduce road deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Through our road safety strategy, through stronger local partnerships and through a renewed focus on the causes of collisions, we are taking a more determined and more proactive approach. I assure the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon that the concerns she has raised today will be carefully considered and that we will continue to work closely with partners across the west midlands to support further progress. I once again thank her for securing this important debate.

Question put and agreed to.

Small Towns: Transport Links

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Andy MacNae]

Absolutely, and I know that several colleagues here have been great champions of accessibility to rail links. It is absolutely fundamental.

On the lack of connection, Rossendale remains the only local authority in the north without a direct rail link, despite thousands of residents commuting into Manchester every week—it is only 15 miles away. The old railway line still exists; all we need to do is reinstate it as a commuter line. Rossendale borough council has fully explored the costs and benefits in its City Valley link proposal. It is not a speculative idea, but a credible, carefully developed proposal with a strong business case behind it.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that, when we think about growth, we need to think about being strategic in how we connect all our railways, buses and so on? A new airport is going to be opening in Doncaster. We need to be thinking about the future and how we connect that to the rail network as we go forward.

[Andy MacNae]

My hon. Friend makes a crucial point, and I will touch on this issue. Thinking of things as a whole, not as individual, isolated projects, is crucial for the transport systems that we actually need.

Rossendale has put forward its plan. Surveys show that the public overwhelming support it, because communities in Rossendale understand exactly what a rail link would mean. By opening up the valley, we could become a much more attractive destination for businesses looking to relocate to lower-cost areas. Existing businesses would have access to bigger skills pools and reduced supply costs. Jobs in central Manchester would become more viable, and footfall in our town centres would significantly grow. This is pretty much the definition of a growth no-brainer, yet like so many small-town infrastructure projects, the proposal has got nowhere. It has been consistently overlooked or rejected through a narrow use of old Green Book guidance, whereas just down the road we see multibillion-pound projects, which we cannot even connect to, being given the green light.

To add insult to injury, Lancashire combined county authority did not even include the City Valley link in its recent transport infrastructure plan, despite Rossendale being clearly identified as suffering from transport isolation. I hope that is just a simple mistake, and I call on the combined authority to ensure that this vital link is included in the final version of the plan. I hope the Minister will support me in this endeavour.

Similarly, I have been calling for the restoration of Lower Darwen station, which I am pleased to say is now in the implementation plan. This represents an opportunity to finally reconnect a community that has been cut off for too long. By providing easy access to the Manchester-Clitheroe line, the station would unlock new jobs and opportunities in the whole community. In both Rossendale and Lower Darwen, it is not just about a railway line; it is about finally giving our towns the infrastructure they need to thrive.

Outside the south-east, our small towns have felt left behind for far too long, and persistent poor connectivity is a stark indicator of this. We need to be honest: this has not just been an accident of fate; historical Government policy and practice have been key factors. The Green Book has been consistently misused, with assessors simply relying on benefit-cost ratios, which inevitably favour better-off urban areas. Alongside that, our economic policy has defaulted to the city-focused, trickle-down approach.

Although the 2024 Green Book review and Government initiatives have put us in a potentially better place, issues do remain. We need a clear focus from Ministers to ensure that civil servants are genuinely implementing the Green Book recommendations and that local authorities—particularly non-mayoral areas—have the capacity and capability to develop robust business cases. We also need to move beyond the city-centric economic model and towards one that values all places. In that regard, we have a long way to go. If we look at the list of investment programmes, infrastructure projects and policy pathfinders—

Rail Connections to London: Rural Towns

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) for securing this incredibly important debate. I will never miss an opportunity to talk about how isolated my community is in terms of public transport.

The ability to get to London by train would be transformational for North West Leicestershire, but as my two main towns of Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, based in a semirural constituency, have not had passenger rail since the Beeching cuts closed the Ivanhoe line, getting a train anywhere would be a massive step forward. I would welcome the Minister setting out what assessment the Department for Transport has made of the economic benefits of connecting rural towns like mine to the rail network and on to London.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

In my constituency, four rural stations are served by just one train that comes every two hours. I have been fighting to get a train every hour for those stations and their communities. That train goes to Doncaster, which is a great gateway to London. Does my hon. Friend agree that while it is great having that hub in Doncaster, if we cannot get people to it, we cannot get them out to the rest of the country? We need to think about that in all our procedures and processes going forward.

[Amanda Hack]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is really problematic if nobody is able to get to these hubs.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Consideration of Lords amendments
Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Follow that, Lee Pitcher.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wish the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) a very happy birthday. I am sure the rest of the Conservative Members are waiting for him at the party—I know they like those. How was that, Madam Deputy Speaker?

Current events in the middle east have once again demonstrated the volatility and vulnerability of global fuel supplies. A cleaner aviation sector should also be a more resilient one. Producing sustainable aviation fuel at home reduces exposure to geopolitical shocks, while giving airlines and passengers greater long-term certainty. It is for that reason that I believe the Lords amendments are vital. This is about our home and our circular economy.

Before Parliament, I worked in the water industry for 30 years. One of the projects I led was working with farmers on practical measures to prevent flooding, including planting winter cover crops in between pea harvests to protect soil and reduce run-off. Those same winter cover crops, or similar ones, can also play a role as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. That is why I see a real opportunity here to line up environmental improvement and the economic benefits that come from SAF. Better soil structure and less erosion mean better outcomes for our local waterways and a healthier local environment, while farmers and rural communities can gain an additional income stream from doing the right thing for their land.

Since coming to Parliament, one of my biggest goals has been the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield airport, which is essential to local jobs, growth and prosperity. But I want to go further still: I want Doncaster Sheffield airport to become a beacon of cleaner, greener aviation, and sustainable aviation fuel is a huge part of that transition.

[Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the reopening of Doncaster airport is not only critical so that we are part of the sustainable aviation future, but to create the high-skill, high-wage jobs in the green economy that young people in Doncaster deserve?

[Lee Pitcher]

I certainly do agree. In the business case for Doncaster Sheffield airport, the South Yorkshire mayoral combined authority says that around 5,000 jobs will be created directly, with the creation of many more jobs indirectly. When I visit schools, as my hon. Friend does, I see our future pilots, engineers, manufacturers and aircrew. You know what, Madam Deputy Speaker? I want people to live in Doncaster, work in Doncaster, have their careers in Doncaster, spend their leisure time in Doncaster and basically have the passion for the place that I do. I know that my hon. Friend does, too.

DSA is ideally placed to lead on how we become a cleaner, greener aviation economy locally. It is surrounded by agricultural land and is close to the Humber, the UK’s leading hub for green energy and fuel. A domestic SAF industry means more UK manufacturing, more skilled work and more investment in the kind of modern facilities that can power regional growth. We know how important that is right now.

Taken together, the benefits are absolutely clear: for our countryside, we can improve soil and water outcomes, support more resilient farming and restore nature; for our rural communities, we can open up new opportunities, diversify incomes and improve productivity; for industry, we can build manufacturing capability and secure supply chains here at home; and for aviation, we can reduce dependence on volatile foreign oil and give the sector a credible route by which to decarbonise. Globally, we can reduce the carbon impact of air travel, which is exactly what we need to do if we are to meet our climate goals in a way that supports jobs and prosperity and secures the planet for our children and future generations. This is the right approach for an industrial strategy that is serious about delivery and an environmental strategy that is serious about our future.

If we are asking the public to help to de-risk and scale up a strategic fuel, the jobs, investment, apprenticeships and manufacturing capacity should be created right here, right now in the UK. These amendments keep the value chain onshore, strengthen British supply chains and ensure that decarbonisation supports growth in our communities, not just demand somewhere else.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

UK Bus Manufacturing

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Euan Stainbank]

My hon. Friend goes to the heart of the issue we are debating today. This is an opportunity for our country to enable our manufacturers to compete within the market.

What British industry needs is not to see its renowned prowess for making diesel buses become a sentimental memory in communities such as Falkirk, but policy certainty and support to scale up and properly compete in the zero emissions market as we move towards the implementation of the ZEB mandate. International competitors have been able to scale up to meet the global market through state subsidy and clear procurement ambition. It is up to us to gather the political will to do the same, which I am sure we will hear articulated today.

Through both the mandate and voluntary targets for new registrations, operators are moving to prepare for new additions to their fleet to be fully zero emission by 2030, at the earliest. As that date approaches and diesel buses concurrently become a diminishing part of manufacturers’ order books, we must acknowledge that there is a short window before every new bus in the UK market will be zero emission. The year 2027, proposed by some during the passage of the Bus Services Act 2025 as the date for the ZEB mandate to come into operation, would, without thought, drastically narrow that window, and I was glad to see those amendments defeated.

However, the message we are hearing from our manufacturers is clear. If we now fail to get this right, we will not be talking about a British-led transition and we will not be talking just about a 35%, and rising, Chinese market share. We will be talking about transitioning to reliance on other places in the world to build the vehicles we need on our roads. We will be facing the reality of the long-term consequences of the price and security of supply being increasingly elsewhere and not here. We will have lost control.

That is why this debate is urgent. The Government, in my view, have the political temperament to deliver a new generation of British-built buses, and they have the proven ability to be bold on industrial policy, but too many missed chances by previous Governments and increasingly imminent deadlines for our industry mean that we need to be bolder. Sadly, taxpayer-funded schemes have contributed, rather than aiding a solution, to the problem of diminishing market share for UK manufacturers.

The initial ZEBRA—zero emission bus regional areas—scheme, touted proudly by Prime Minister Johnson’s Government, committed to 4,000 British-built buses by the end of the last Parliament. The scheme delivered just 2,270 buses, of which about 46% were built abroad. There was a material and harmful chasm between political rhetoric and delivery for UK manufacturers.

Scottish manufacturing fared worse recently in phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s zero emission bus challenge fund, the outcome of which was sending two thirds of ScotZEB2 orders to Yutong in China, while less than 20% went to Scottish manufacturers. That created an existential threat to 400 jobs and the Scottish bus manufacturing sector last year, with the First Minister being informed by the company in August 2024 that the outcome of the scheme appeared to show little regard for Scottish manufacturing, with unprecedented action being required in September to prevent the two factories from closing for good.

In addition, 130 jobs were lost in 2024, in part because of the aggravated issue of conditions being placed on Scottish Government funding, compelling adherence to advanced Fair Work First standards for employee remuneration, welfare and safety, while no such requirement was made of foreign manufacturers. I am all in favour of fair work standards being applied. The problem here is that they were not weighted in the procurement exercises, despite their being required only of British manufacturers. That created an unlevel playing field, tilted in the wrong direction.

We have heard testimonials to the origin of London’s public transport system in the labour of Scottish, English and Northern Irish workers, who now contend with, and are contradicted by, the rapidly increasing portions of Transport for London infrastructure coming from elsewhere in the world.

It does not have to be this way. For example, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) alluded to, the Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region combined authorities, when franchising their bus networks, bought nationally. They chose to weight properly when buying buses, with procurement teams looking at what could be achieved when social value is appropriately weighted.

These successes and failures are largely down to how the schemes are set up. It seems entirely right to me that, because many are funded wholly with our constituents’ tax money, we should maximise the muscle of the state to make sure that as much of it as possible ends up benefiting our constituents, within the limits of our World Trade Organisation obligations.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

In the Doncaster East part of my constituency, franchising kicks in next year. At the moment, routes are about profits, not the people who use them. With this being about buying British buses, I think we have an amazing opportunity also to think about accessibility on our buses and to make sure we are also thinking about people who have disabilities or need extra help when we build our British buses.

[Euan Stainbank]

For Members of Parliament, accessibility on our public transport network is always a key factor. At the “meet the fleet” exhibition, I was glad to see some of the new models coming out from Alexander Dennis—hopefully to be built at the Larbert and Camelon sites—which will provide greater accessibility for customers. It is important for all bus manufacturers to make that feature a key selling point when they are going out to the country.

Other countries have been able to do this and follow WTO or even EU free trade obligations. The German Government have recently started enforcing a 50% rule for contract value in procurement from the EU or countries with a free trade agreement, putting a cap on market growth of foreign competitors and, in practice, protecting jobs in the German automotive industry. The US’s Build America, Buy America scheme, introduced by the Biden Administration, mandates 70% local content for all rolling stock, and final assembly in the USA. Canada, while engaged in several free trade agreements, has introduced a Buy Canadian procurement policy framework that prioritises domestic industries.

If other countries can do it, so can we. When I have put to the Government the case for greater policy support for UK manufacturers, the very welcome forum of the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel and the 10-year bus pipeline are often cited as the answer. The panel and the imminent 10-year pipeline will offer welcome certainty about the volume and source of upcoming demand, but we need alignment of policy to support our industry or we are in danger of providing just as much certainty to foreign competitors as to our own manufacturers.

The Government’s recent consultation on procurement reform is very welcome. I hope it did not escape the notice of my hon. Friends on the Front Bench and in the Cabinet Office that substantial submissions were made by Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus and supply chain businesses that rely on the primary UK manufacturing sector. The UK manufacturing sector is clear on a way forward that supports it without significant structural legislative change. We need a stronger emphasis on social value, and I believe Ministers must now consider a 30% social value weighting and clearer local economic benefit expectations.

Social value criteria should be directly linked to key performance indicators that provide evidence of growing industry; job creation and retention; skills and metrics, including economic impact; taxes paid in the UK; supply chain spend; and UK gross value added to UK plc. Simply setting social value at 10% would continue to risk it being immaterial to scheme outcomes, as we saw in Scotland, and would be an inadequate tool to deal with rapidly diminishing British market share.

Will the Minister confirm in his summing-up what further action is being considered to encourage contracting authorities to maximise their portion of the 10-year bus pipeline through domestic content when it is published? In addition, what conversations has he sought with Cabinet Office colleagues on procurement reform to amplify the views of the manufacturing sector and supply chain businesses when the time comes to legislate?

The necessity to retain and grow our domestic capacity is increasingly essential when serious concerns are being raised across Europe about the security of some Chinese-built buses. Following concerns raised by myself and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim, there is currently a National Cyber Security Centre and Department for Transport investigation into the risk of remote deactivation in some Chinese-built buses. I understand, through subsequent reports in the media, that the possibility of remote deactivation exists for 700-plus buses currently active on British roads.

Although the risk may appear abstract to some, this issue raises important long-term security, autonomy and dependability concerns for my constituents, operators and passengers. Our manufacturers currently comply with security regulations 155 and 156, verified by the Vehicle Certification Agency, which ensures that vehicle manufacturers implement comprehensive cyber-security measures throughout a vehicle’s life cycle and ensures that software updates happen safely and securely. Approval certificates, however, can be sought from other countries’ approval authorities through mutual recognition arrangements for non-UK verification.

I raised written questions prior to the interim reports of the investigation being reported in the media. I will repeat them here, considering the new information. Have the Government considered requiring UK VCA verification for any non-domestic manufacturers in the UK following those concerns? Following that, will the Government accept that national industrial security could and should be factored into any subsequent taxpayer-funded procurement exercises? If there is any degree of fallibility in security that cannot be adequately mitigated, the Procurement Act 2023 surely provides the powers for contracting authorities to disregard bids from non-treaty state suppliers.

Is that a power the Government would consider encouraging or mandating contracting authorities to use, if they are not satisfied with the security of buses coming from abroad? Although that would certainly be significant action, buses are the most used form of public transport in the country and are essential national infrastructure. We know that there are sufficiently credible risks to warrant Chinese-built buses being investigated. Without prejudicing the outcome of the investigation, which I understand is still on track, will the Minister provide us with as much of an update as possible on when we should expect the investigation to be concluded? This concern reinforces the need to move urgently to tilt the market away from increased reliance on Chinese manufacturers and towards self-sufficiency.

With 400 jobs and the very existence of a century-old bus manufacturing sector put in jeopardy in my community in Falkirk last year, the state of the UK bus manufacturing sector is a real and present issue, not only for my community but for our national industrial security and how we effectively execute a just transition, as we move towards the zero emission bus mandate for 2030 at the earliest. The transition towards clean transport has been, and will be, backed by billions in additional funding from this Government, who have shown the ability to be bold on industrial policy. We have a valued, well-paid and skilled workforce. At the same time, we have an existential challenge from foreign competitors. Too much taxpayers’ money goes abroad, and too many self-imposed targets were missed by previous Governments.

If we do not adopt creative policies from elsewhere to support our British industry, we risk losing those jobs permanently to Chinese manufacturing, and if that is done, it cannot be undone. If UK bus manufacturing fails, for as long as this country is subsidising buses we will be sending taxpayers’ money abroad, so we cannot afford the cost of doing nothing.

Deindustrialisation is not an inevitable process—a reaction to the UK sector losing market share. We have policy levers. We can increase social value weighting expectations nationally and locally to 30%; we can give clear guidance to contracting authorities on how the muscle in the Procurement Act can best be strategically deployed; we can clearly state the risks that kill switches could present; and we can back British buses.

My constituents and I hope to see buses being built in Falkirk for a long time to come. I want the same for communities in Ballymena, Scarborough, Aldershot and beyond. I believe this Government can make that hope a concrete reality, but to do that we need to make the right choices. We need to make bolder choices, and we need to make them now.

Airport Drop-off Charges

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim McMahon]

That is the point. For the sake of a £5 fee, the penalty could be a full day’s wage for a low-paid worker. Is it a fair penalty to take away a day’s pay from somebody for going over by a minute? Most people would say that that is not a fair response.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Doncaster Sheffield airport in my constituency is about to open. I want there to be access for everybody, and I want everyone to feel that they can use it. For some people, it is not optional but essential to get really close to the terminal because of their disabilities. Does my hon. Friend agree that, in principle, whatever regime we have in future must take into account those people who need to be close and give them a grace period without having to pay, so that they can get on their plane and go on their dream holiday or work trip?

[Jim McMahon]

I think so. It is not just about being fair; it is about being reasonable. We have all dropped loved ones off at the airport. We know how stressful it can be, and we know that the family member giving the lift normally tries to fit it around other things as well. Sometimes they will be dropping people off in the early hours of the morning. They rush to the airport, drop their loved ones off, say their goodbyes, make sure they get on the flight nice and safely, a bit upset perhaps that they are leaving, go home, maybe go to bed, and wake up in the morning—and before they know it, the day has taken over. It can be very easy to miss the deadline to pay. If it were extended from 24 hours to, say, 48 hours, most people would eventually say, “Hang on: I should have made that payment.”

It cannot be that every organisation relies on an app. In my town, the hospital and the leisure centre now have apps to pay, and so do some supermarkets. There are so many apps, and keeping track of them can be very difficult, so some people will have to search out how to make the payment. That is where the idea of reasonableness really comes in.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South and Walkden (Yasmin Qureshi) for securing this important debate. As she so clearly and eloquently expressed, this issue affects many of her constituents, and indeed many airport users across the country, as other hon. Members have outlined. I commend her commitment to advocating for those impacted by what can sometimes be unfair and disproportionate airport drop-off charges, and I will engage closely with the points that she and hon. Members of all parties have raised.

Turning to the specifics of her speech, my hon. Friend clearly set out how airports are nodes of economic productivity. They are essential to UK growth, but they are underpinned by the lived experiences of people in the communities we serve as Members of Parliament. She spoke powerfully about the impact on people with disabilities, young families and those who need to be dropped off in the middle of the night, including on their ability to use airports, if parking charges are not set in a way that is fair and proportionate. I thank her for doing so.

My hon. Friends the Members for Manchester Rusholme (Afzal Khan) and for Slough (Mr Dhesi), the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) and others subsequently spoke about the underpinning principle of fairness being required within the system. Whether through apps or websites, the rules must be clear and transparent, which the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew), also spoke about. The rules must also be easy to navigate, regardless of when someone drops off a passenger or when they come to pay the charge.

I turn to the issues raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon). His point about the fairness of penalty charges for non-payment was well made. It is incredibly important that there be transparency about that aspect of the charging system, and airports must express it clearly to their consumers. That point was buttressed by the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Rusholme, who used the specific example of a failure to pay a fee for staying an extra minute ending up in a £60 fine. That goes to the heart of the fact that there are people who serve the economies connected to our airports—particularly taxi drivers, as my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) mentioned. It is really important that we make sure that those people are at the heart of designs for parking systems at our airports.

Important points were also raised about airport signage being clear, and I will take those away. The hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) and my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) made valuable points about rural connectivity and access to airports. My hon. Friend noted that a dial-a-ride service can work very well in certain instances, but consumers cannot always trust a bus to show up when they need it to so that they can get to the airport on time, often at night. I understand the concern. We need to make sure that surface access across our airports, whether for people who live in rural or urban communities, is improved. That is a key priority for me as Aviation Minister.

[Lee Pitcher]

Does the Minister agree that there is an opportunity for franchising in certain areas? I am working with South Yorkshire mayoral combined authority at the moment, to put in place a Doncaster East super loop that includes the airport and improves services, so that our residents can get to the airport safely and quickly.

[Keir Mather]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend raises an important point. There is a virtuous circle of economic prosperity to be created through multimodal access to airports. Rail provides an incredibly important piece of that puzzle and it is hoped that increased powers in the Railways Bill, including more control of the provision of passenger services, will allow us to cluster economic focus to the areas that need it most.

My hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) raised issues to do with East Midlands airport. Although the airport uses a proportion of its car parking revenue to fund public transport, cycling and walking access options, including its local electric bus service, that does not negate his important point about fairness. He mentioned the penalty fee being incurred by midnight of the next day if someone fails to pay their fee on time. His point about transparency and consumers being able to know when that fee is approaching is incredibly important.

My hon. Friend also raised an incredibly important point about accessibility. For older residents or people who do not have the same digital literacy as others, navigating smartphone apps and websites to pay that charge can be very onerous indeed. I will certainly be taking that point away.

Railways Bill

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Almost 1,000 residents of Althorpe, Crowle, Thorne and Hatfield have signed a petition; all they want is one train per hour. At the moment, it is every two hours, and on Sundays there is hardly any service at all. GBR is streamlining matters; decisions will be made in one place. Does the Secretary of State foresee practical issues with the timetable being resolved quite quickly?

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is often said that he or she who controls the timetable controls the railway. That is why this Bill will put power into the hands of the integrated rail body, Great British Railways, which will take decisions about the best use of the rail network.

Grove Park Railway Station

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Janet Daby]

My hon. Friend makes a strong campaign argument for ensuring that stations are accessible to all.

Much of Grove Park is made of corrugated metal, which leaks and is cold. When it rains, the waiting room is often flooded because of the leaky roof; things are even more difficult for my constituents when the door is locked. As I have said, I know that change can happen. We have campaigned for years and years for improvements at Grove Park station, and I know that campaigning works, because earlier this year, work began on upgrading Hither Green station, which is also in my constituency. It is exciting to watch the upgrade, which includes a new footbridge connecting all six platforms, new lifts, new closed circuit television and public address systems and a host of other improvements. This is a great scheme that construction workers and railway station staff are rightly proud of. More importantly, my constituents—and me, as I use both Hither Green and Grove Park stations—will benefit from this work. I am looking forward to benefiting from the improvements that will hopefully come about at Grove Park.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

In Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, rail passengers tell me that it would make a massive difference, and help them to feel safe at stations like Hatfield, if there was improved lighting and security, and better shelters. Does my hon. Friend agree that when we make upgrades, we should think about things that make women and children feel safe?

[Janet Daby]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct about better lighting. People need to feel safe using transport, especially women and girls, and anybody who feels vulnerable in those situations. We all need better lighting and accessibility, and other improvements, in our stations, so that we can all use them, and so that we have equal rights and choices when it comes to using stations and getting to where we need to go.

I need to hear about plans and timescales for improvements at Grove Park station, so I am looking forward to the Minister’s response. Grove Park station is the centre of the community, and I want to ensure that it gets the upgrade that my residents and local businesses so rightly deserve. I ask the Government to get behind me on this, and to work with Southeastern on these much-needed upgrades to a station that is frequently used by my constituents. These renovations will lift the local area.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) on securing this important debate. She has made a powerful case for accessibility improvements at Grove Park railway station. Before I turn to those improvements in detail, I will briefly pick up on two things she mentioned that I think are worthy of due consideration.

First, my hon. Friend made a point about the station not being aesthetically what her constituents deserve. This is not something we often get the opportunity to speak about in the House, but building beauty into our railways is incredibly important to me. It should factor to a greater extent in our thinking about how the travelling public can engage with our railways and enjoy the process.

I also congratulate my hon. Friend on her campaign. It was exciting to hear about the array of small businesses and community organisations that made her petition possible. It speaks to the fact that our railway stations sit at the heart of the local communities they serve—a point that was reflected powerfully in her speech. I know how deeply my hon. Friend cares about her local community and how tirelessly she campaigns for improved public transport that is safer and more accessible for everyone in it.

This debate, and indeed the petition that my hon. Friend presented to Parliament on 20 October, underline the very real concerns of passengers who rely on Grove Park station every day. For many residents, Grove Park is not simply a station; it is a gateway to work, education, healthcare and family life. As my hon. Friend clearly set out, though, for too many users, especially those with mobility challenges, parents with buggies, older passengers or anyone travelling with heavy luggage, this gateway does not offer the accessibility and, most importantly, the dignity that they expect. She is right to say that the public’s travelling experience must be safe, comfortable and inclusive. That is central to this Government’s commitment to a more accessible and passenger-focused rail network for all.

Across Britain, many stations were constructed long before modern accessibility standards existed. Although around 56% of stations are now step-free and around two thirds of journeys take place between such stations, we recognise that this is not enough. Everyone must have dignity as they travel across the United Kingdom. Accessibility is not an optional extra; it is a basic expectation of modern public transport. That is why we remain committed to delivering improvements through programmes such as Access for All, through our recently published rail accessibility road map and through our long-term reforms to create Great British Railways.

The rail accessibility road map sets out clear actions that will improve disabled passengers’ experience, from better-maintained lifts and clearer information to the quality of assistance provided at stations for every journey. These are an essential element to providing dignity and inclusion to all rail passengers. I regret that Grove Park station does not offer full step-free access to all platforms. For wheelchair users, people with mobility needs, parents with pushchairs and travellers with luggage, this is a real challenge and a hugely regrettable reality in 2025—a reality that I know my hon. Friend is working tirelessly to correct for the better on behalf of her constituents.

[Lee Pitcher]

I have Althorpe station in my constituency. We are trying to get more trains, which will mean more passengers using those trains. This is massively important to reduce carbon, and to get people to work and hospital appointments and so on. Access is really important, and there is no step-free access there. Does the Minister agree that improving access will increase the number of passengers who use our trains, and that it will benefit the environment too?

[Keir Mather]

My hon. Friend is a tireless champion for improved rail services for all in Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme. He makes an incredibly important point: if more people can access our railways and thereby the opportunities that access provides them—social lives, employment and the ability to give back to their local communities—good will create good. Improving accessibility for all is a virtuous circle.

In 2022, the previous Government sought nominations for stations across Britain to benefit from upgrades as part of the Access for All programme. A total of 310 nominations were received from train operators, strategic transport bodies and Transport for London stations. This did not include a nomination for Grove Park station. I recognise my hon. Friend’s frustration with the process that we inherited from the previous Government. The current limitations of the station and the benefits that step-free access would bring, which she set out clearly today, are exactly the sort of factors that I would expect to inform bids for future rounds of funding. When assessing potential projects, we look closely at station footfall, weighted by incidence of disability in the area, industry priorities, and the availability of third-party funding. Local factors—for example, proximity to hospitals or especially high numbers of interchange passengers—are also taken into consideration. I know that these factors are very important to my hon. Friend’s case as to why Grove Park station needs extra support.

I would like to highlight the significant investment we are putting in to make rail more accessible within my hon. Friend’s constituency to show where we are making progress. As she knows, significant upgrades to the nearby Hither Green station, which she has also campaigned on in her work to improve rail in her local area, are well into delivery and are progressing well. Those upgrades are due to come into passenger use in 2027, at which point Hither Green will provide a fully accessible rail hub for her constituents and the wider south-east London community.

I turn to other issues that my hon. Friend has highlighted in relation to Grove Park station. I reassure her that my Department takes the safety and security of passengers and rail staff incredibly seriously. British Transport police, which is responsible for policing the railway, works closely with train operating companies including Southeastern to create a safer network. I am pleased to say that Grove Park will benefit from an LED lighting update to the overbridge and platforms. The upgrade will improve lighting levels, security perception and CCTV-recorded images.

We have recently announced £17 million of funding to improve British Transport police’s access to railway CCTV. The Department expects that train operating companies will implement crime prevention methods where required, including by improving lighting and CCTV where necessary. The BTP’s designing out crime unit provides advice on crime prevention, including the type of CCTV technology to use and suitable placement at stations. I therefore reassure my hon. Friend that the safety and security of those who use our railways is a core priority for the Government.

Shelters and seating at train stations play a vital role in ensuring the comfort and wellbeing of passengers. The Department for Transport expects train operating companies to manage station amenities to ensure that they are safe, clean and fit for purpose. We monitor those standards through the service quality regime, which includes regular inspections of the condition and availability of assets such as seating and shelters to ensure compliance and to identify areas for improvement.

Southeastern is driving forward a multimillion pound station improvement programme, which has delivered benefits to over 100 stations since March 2024. This ambitious initiative includes deep cleaning, repairs, and enhancements that will refresh and modernise station amenities across the network. I am pleased to say that Southeastern has recently completed a deep clean at Grove Park, helping to improve the overall customer experience, but I am aware from my hon. Friend’s comments that there is much further to go.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood]

My hon. Friend is a great champion for her community. The Rail Minister has said that he will be happy to meet her to discuss the benefits and challenges of that project. She will know that we have had to prioritise funding during this spending review, and I am afraid that currently none is allocated to this project, but it is for Lancashire combined county authority to consider developing the proposal further. I am sure the Rail Minister will be happy to talk to her about that.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

19. What steps she is taking to support the aviation sector.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

The Government are committed to supporting aviation. [Interruption.] We are advancing airport planning decisions, modernising airspace and reviewing the airports national policy statement on Heathrow expansion. [Interruption.] To make sure that this growth is sustainable we have introduced a sustainable aviation fuel mandate and supported production through the advanced fuels fund, and are legislating for revenue certainty.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Holden, you have had your question. You might want to go for a walk if you are going to carry on.

[Lee Pitcher]

As the work to reopen Doncaster Sheffield airport takes off, the focus now turns to ensuring that it succeeds in the long run. A key part of that is building the next generation of pilots and aviation professionals. I am already working with training providers and we will hopefully launch “Pitcher’s pilot programme” for our young people. Will the Minister set out what steps the Department is taking, working across Government, to ensure that the next generation of aviation professionals is ready to take to the skies?

[Keir Mather]

I applaud my hon. Friend’s ambition to train the next generation of aviators. Government changes to the apprenticeship regulations now mean that aviation employers have greater flexibility, which recently enabled the launch of the Tui cabin crew apprenticeship, with more under development. Through our aviation industry skills board, the Department for Transport works with industry and across Government to address barriers to access. We also fund the Civil Aviation Authority’s outreach programme to attract the next generation into aviation careers. I reassure my hon. Friend that making sure more young people have access to careers that they are passionate about is a subject in which I have a keen personal interest.

Connected and Automated Vehicles

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) for securing this timely and insightful debate.

The advent of automated passenger services as a new pillar of our transport infrastructure is a huge opportunity to transform the lives of disabled people. Turning travel from an exhausting gauntlet into a predictable door-to-door experience would be transformational. For too many people right now, travel is a lottery. A ramp that does not arrive, or a lift that is out of order: when supporting my wife, who lives with sight loss, I see at first hand what that means to her. The stress is in not just the journey but the uncertainty. APS can flip that around on its head, and provide reliable, bookable and predictable journeys with accessibility built in rather than just being bolted on.

If we design the vehicles, the pick-up points and the booking systems around real lives, APS can deliver something really quite remarkable but simple and profound, which most of us take for granted: the confidence for someone to get where they want to go every single time. Designing it around real lives means universal design as standard: kerb-level boarding; audio, haptic and visual cues; secure wheelchair spaces; induction loops; seats that can be reserved; and booking systems, in-app and by phone, that work for blind and partially sighted people.

[Rosie Wrighting]

I lost my driving licence because I was having seizures when I was 19 years old. Will my hon. Friend also talk about the fact that this would help people who cannot drive due to seizures?

[Lee Pitcher]

I 100% agree with my hon. Friend. My wife was born with full sight, but over the years her degenerative condition has meant that she had to lose her licence. I know that it was almost like ripping her heart out; the independence she lost was huge. Anybody who experiences that independence—having the ability to go where they want, when they want—will know that it is so difficult to lose. APS should help many more people who experience that.

We have the chance, for the first time in history, to develop a system with the needs of disabled people entrenched from the beginning; not as an afterthought or adaptation, but built for the right purpose from day one. That means co-development, not just consultation, for although disabled people are poised to benefit most from the technology, they are also the most vulnerable if we get it wrong. Co-development means having disabled people in the room with engineers, coders and operators from the first day. It means trials where users co-write the test plan, safety cases published in plain English and feedback loops that actually change the service.

Trust is the prerequisite for adoption. We will not win it with glossy brochures. We will win it by working with disabled people to design safeguards and standards that resonate with them. That is how you build a service that people can have confidence in. Clear rules and accountability must back that up with independent safety audits, black box-style incident logging, a human in loop for edge cases, and transparent performance data for on-time pick-ups, successful ramp deployments, and complaint resolutions, published route by route. APS should knit together the network, not replace accessible buses and trains. Think real-time handovers, shared tickets and guaranteed connections, with compensation when the system fails.

New technology can mean a new lease of life for tens of thousands of people by giving them independence, dignity and the confidence to get where they want to go every single time. We have a genuine once-in-a-generation chance to get this right. I call on the Minister to enshrine the principles of accessibility by design from the very start and ensure service user co-creation from this point on. If we do not do that, we will spend years playing catch up, and the opportunities missed by those who stood to benefit the most will never come again.