Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Will Forster(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Lilian Greenwood
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the problems caused by the antisocial use of e-bikes, and indeed of illegal e-bikes. Police already have the powers they need to seize any non-compliant e-bikes and we encourage them to use those powers, as I know they are in parts of the country.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
One of my Woking constituents is a nurse at Great Ormond Street hospital. Due to her long hours and shift patterns, she is unable to use a return ticket to go to and from work, which means she has to spend more money to give vital care to children. Will the Transport Secretary agree to look into this to ensure that my constituent and other key NHS staff and workers are able to spend less money to support us by having a longer return journey ticket?
Road Safety Strategy
Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Will Forster(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Lilian Greenwood
I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she has done at a local level. We are consulting on new powers to give the police precisely the tools that they need to crack down on the criminals who feel that they can get away with illegal activity by using ghost plates.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
Road safety in Woking is regularly raised with me by my constituents, so I am pleased that the Government have announced ways to toughen up our drink-driving laws. However, police forces, including mine in Surrey, cannot adequately police the drink-driving laws as they are, and these changes will be less impactful if they are not able to do proper enforcement. With police forces increasingly deprioritising policing on our roads due to budgetary pressures, has the Minister conducted a review of current enforcement? If not, will she do so?
Lilian Greenwood
The Government have done a great deal of work in collaboration with the Home Office on road policing. We know that this strategy will be effective only if there is enforcement. I cannot instruct chief constables on how they deploy their resources, but we are determined to work in partnership to ensure that this road safety strategy is effective, including the measures around enforcement.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Will Forster(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Lilian Greenwood
Of course, I recognise that Branston bridge is a vital part of Staffordshire county council’s road network, linking communities and businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency. In addition to the £500 million of maintenance funding that the Chancellor announced in the Budget, there is also £650 million of transport funding outside city regions next year. Full detail on how that funding will be allocated will be confirmed in due course.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
Several key roads in my constituency are either closed or partially closed for roadworks, which are being done by utility companies who are increasingly getting around road permits by declaring an emergency. Will the Minister look into that to ensure that utility companies use emergency powers only when absolutely necessary?
Lilian Greenwood
The hon. Member raises a really important point about the disruption of roadworks. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we mitigate those problems and deal with them exactly as he said.