Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has asked HS2 Limited to make an assessment of the potential impact of the provision of funding for a railway station at East Birmingham on the regeneration of that area.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
HS2 Ltd has defined scope to deliver two HS2 stations in the West Midlands: Birmingham Curzon Street and Interchange. These stations will have a transformative economic impact on the wider city, including East Birmingham. There are no plans for an additional HS2 station in East Birmingham.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date bids for the next wave of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding should be submitted to her Department.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
At October Budget, the Government confirmed funding for the current City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme in 2025-26, including a £200m uplift. Further funding beyond 2025-26 is being considered as part of the multi-year Spending Review, which is expected to conclude in late Spring.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which spending programmes their Department devolves for administration to (a) local government in England and (b) other local spending bodies; and what the budget is of each such programme for each year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Government has set itself a mission that, by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal, with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution, with a simplified, long-term funding settlement. At Spring Budget, the Government announced the trailblazer devolution deals with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and West Midlands Combined Authorities (WMCA), which included a commitment to introduce single funding settlements at the next Spending Review for these MCAs. At Autumn Statement, the Government published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GMCA and WMCA, setting out how the single settlements will work. The Government also announced an ambitious new ‘level 4’ of the devolution framework, including a single transport funding settlement for eligible institutions, and a ‘consolidated’ pot at the next multi-year SR covering two DLUHC investment themes – local growth and place, and housing and regeneration. Following successful delivery of the ‘consolidated’ pot, and learning from the trailblazers, Level 4 institutions will then become eligible to receive a single settlement from the subsequent multi-year Spending Review.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for finalising the land requirement for the HS2 Washwood Heath rolling stock maintenance depot; and what recent estimate he has made of when land will be released for commercial redevelopment at the site.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Schedule 17 planning application for the Washwood Heath Depot has recently received consent from Birmingham City Council, which confirms the land required for the Depot. The design and extent of the environmental mitigation measures to the south of the depot are well underway, with a planning application likely to be submitted later this year. Once the extent of these measures are confirmed, the commercial development proposals can be matured.
The forecast timeline for the commercial development depends upon a number of factors as described above and may be subject to change. The land will be released once the depot site has been completed.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to strengthen the safety regulations on the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to create a Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle (LZEV) category that is independent of the cycle and motor vehicle categories. The first focus of this new system will be e-scooters, which we are looking to legalise for private and rental use through secondary legislation. This will require setting robust technical requirements and clear expectations on users. No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters, and we will consult before any new arrangements come into force.
From the start of 2020 to end June 2022, there have been a total of 17 fatalities in collisions involving e-scooters reported to the Department by police. Of these, 16 deaths were e-scooter users themselves. The STATS19 collection covers only collisions on the public highway.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities his Department has recorded relating to the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to create a Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle (LZEV) category that is independent of the cycle and motor vehicle categories. The first focus of this new system will be e-scooters, which we are looking to legalise for private and rental use through secondary legislation. This will require setting robust technical requirements and clear expectations on users. No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters, and we will consult before any new arrangements come into force.
From the start of 2020 to end June 2022, there have been a total of 17 fatalities in collisions involving e-scooters reported to the Department by police. Of these, 16 deaths were e-scooter users themselves. The STATS19 collection covers only collisions on the public highway.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
This funding will be published as part of the Supplementary Estimates later this year. The initial funding agreed has been incorporated with the Main Estimate Memorandum, which has been published at the estimate level. This can be found via the following link: Main Estimate 21-22 Memorandum (parliament.uk). The figures by individual scheme level will also be published in due course.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his Department became aware of safety problems with the Midland Metro.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport was first made aware of safety issues regarding the tram vehicles in June 2021, but had not been informed of the impact it would have on services, (full service suspension), until 12 November 2021 when the issues re-emerged.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his Department plans to restore Avanti trains to three services per hour between London and Birmingham.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Birmingham to London currently benefits from up to five trains per hour across three operators, and Avanti West Coast provides the most frequent services of these operators.
As the year progresses, Avanti will look into additional services to satisfy passenger demand in collaboration with other operators on this route, recognising the need to balance taxpayers’ expense and passenger capacity.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) policies and (b) grant and funding programmes his Department has introduced to provide support to individuals and organisations in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what funding has been allocated to each of those programmes in the 2020-21 financial year.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
My department has introduced vital measures to ensure the continued safe operation of key modes of public transport throughout the pandemic. Details of the measures and costs associated have been published in the NAO’s online tracker of the Government's interventions on Covid-19. This is available online at https://www.nao.org.uk/covid-19/cost-tracker/