Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support local authorities with highway maintenance costs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads and has pledged to support local authorities.
By 2029/30, the Government will commit over £2 billion annually for local authorities to repair and renew their roads and fix potholes – doubling funding since coming into office. For the first time, we have confirmed allocations for four years of funding, enabling local authorities to plan ahead and move away from expensive, short-term repairs and instead invest in proactive and preventative maintenance. This is in addition to the Government’s investment of £1.6 billion in 2025/26, a £500 million increase compared to 2024/25.
Local authorities should prioritise preventative treatments, such as surface dressing and other measures, to stop potholes forming in the first place. This focus on best practice is why a portion of funding is designated as incentive funding. This incentive funding will be subject to local authorities demonstrating that they comply with best practice in highways maintenance, for example by spending all DfT’s capital grant on highways maintenance and adopting more preventative maintenance.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions have taken place with local leaders on improving bus services in areas affected by recent operator withdrawals.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Buses in England outside London were deregulated by the Transport Act 1985 and are largely run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision. However, the Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives to discuss local bus services, including in instances where operators withdraw services. Where operators take decisions to withdraw services, we expect them to work with local authorities to minimise disruption to passengers.
We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and through investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £7.2 million has been allocated to the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, this could include expanding services and improving reliability, which are currently significant obstacles for too many people. Local authorities can also choose to subsidise certain services where commercial provision is not sufficient to meet the needs of local communities and where it represents value for money.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of public satisfaction with recent timetable changes across rail services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new continuous rail customer experience survey started in July to provide improved, robust and reliable customer insight to the rail industry, including measuring customer satisfaction of different aspects of rail service. Metrics within the survey include satisfaction with punctuality and frequency of services, as well as overall satisfaction.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to improve transport accessibility for people with disabilities in smaller stations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whenever the rail industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure, this needs to comply with current accessibility standards. We have also continued to fund the Access for All programme, which has delivered more than 270 accessible routes at stations and smaller improvements at around 1500 stations, including many smaller and rural stations. We have also installed platform edge tactile paving at all stations across Britain, to aid visually impaired passengers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to help reduce flight delays at regional airports.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. UK airports and airlines are therefore responsible for ensuring appropriate contingency plans are in place to minimise potential disruption. The Department regularly engages with the UK aviation sector around resilience issues and to gain assurance of their preparedness plans, particularly ahead of peak travel periods.
In the UK there is a robust legislative framework in place to protect consumers in the event of cancellation, long delays, and denied boarding. Airlines are responsible for ensuring they provide passengers with the required support, and this is enforced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has been made of the reliability of regional rail services serving the North East.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Rail North Partnership, through which the Department and Transport for the North jointly manage Northern Trains’ and TransPennine Express’ contracts, works closely with these operators, as the Department does with intercity operators, and Mayor McGuiness to deliver the reliable services passengers in the North East want and deserve, taking account of operational and financial constraints on operators and the network.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of progress on introducing simpler and more integrated fares across rail and bus networks.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the value of greater integration between rail and bus networks, including in relation to ticketing and fares, and will continue to work with local transport authorities, operators and passengers to improve the fares and ticketing offer for passengers across England.
PlusBus is a well-established integrated ticketing product, allowing passengers to add unlimited local bus and tram travel to their rail ticket where available. A digital version is now available in many regions across England, making combined journeys simpler and more convenient.
Programmes currently under development in England also recognise the aspiration for smart, multi-modal ticketing. This includes the Department working with representatives from the bus industry, Transport for West Midlands and Midlands Connect to develop a national technology solution to facilitate multi-operator ticketing on buses and trams, focusing on contactless bank card payments and fares capping outside of London. In addition, the Fares, Ticketing, and Retail Programme is delivering two new Pay As You Go schemes for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, and expanding an existing one in the South East.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of active-travel funding allocations to local authorities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Active travel funding allocations are based on capability level as assessed through Active Travel England’s annual capability ratings process. The ratings are used to allocate funding and to provide the right support to authorities to help them develop capability to deliver high quality schemes. This process has resulted in an increase in the number of active travel schemes completed on schedule from 58% in 2023/4 to 69% in 2024/5.
Since being established in 2022, Active Travel England (ATE) has provided over £560 million of funding to authorities. ATE have overseen the creation of over 400 miles of new walking and cycling routes (and hundreds of safer crossing and junctions) that the above funding has provided.
There has also been a 9% improvement in the (published) assessment by Active Travel England on local councils’ ability to deliver schemes overall (from 2022/23 to 2023/24).
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help increase driver numbers in the logistics sector.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to supporting the logistics sector in developing the skilled workforces it needs. The Government has confirmed £136 million for Skills Bootcamps in 2025-26 to support more than 40,000 learners. Skills Bootcamps will remain an important part of skills provision and are now funded through Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local areas directly, empowering local leaders with greater control over skills development. Local leaders are considering what occupations, including HGV driving, to prioritise.
The Government also continues to support the sector with skills training through the Urban Driver and Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver apprenticeships, and through Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) via Jobcentre Plus.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans there are to improve safety measures on rural A-roads with higher-than-average collision rates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recognises that the majority of road fatalities (according to the latest statistics) occurred on rural roads (60%) with fewer fatalities on urban roads (35%) and motorways (5%).
Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government is working hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. More details will be set out in due course.