Mike Kane
Main Page: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)Department Debates - View all Mike Kane's debates with the Department for Transport
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Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)
Mr Speaker, as maritime Minister, I pay tribute to John Prescott both for his life at sea and for introducing the tonnage tax back in 2000 as Secretary of State for Transport, which secured the UK’s position as a world leader in maritime services and trained a new generation of seafarers.
We continue to work collaboratively with City Hall, Transport for London and other mayors on long-term transport plans, providing lasting benefits for the public and the economy.
Bob Blackman
I join the Minister in expressing my sympathy to the family of John Prescott. He will be dearly missed across the House and in the other place.
The previous Conservative Government allocated £6.6 billion to subsidise the work of Transport for London, particularly to subsidise the fare box during the pandemic. I understand from the Budget that the Chancellor allocated £485 million to TfL, but the figure may include £220 million already announced to finance Elizabeth line trains. If that is discounted, that leaves £265 million. Can the Minister confirm that the position is that the Government have suspended the de facto right of the Mayor of London to freeze fares and that they are requiring an inflation-busting 4.6% rise in fares in London?
Mike Kane
This is a devolved matter. As the hon. Member said, at the Budget we announced £485 million in capital funding for Transport for London. Shortly afterwards, the local transport Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), and the deputy Mayor met to discuss that. It is a matter for Transport for London. I am sure the hon. Member has a first-class relationship with the Mayor and I am sure he will press him on it.
Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)
Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)
The Government know how important local bus services are in providing access to education. We have set out an ambitious programme of reform to empower local leaders to improve services for passengers, including through the introduction of the buses Bill, to ensure that they better reflect the needs of local communities.
Mike Martin
I, too, associate myself with the remarks about Lord Prescott.
In my constituency of Tunbridge Wells, a group of parents have told me about the difficulties that their children have in getting to Skinners’ Kent academy. The children can get either the No. 2 or the No. 297. The first one gets them to school 90 minutes early, so they have to wait by the side of a busy road in the cold and the dark, and the latter gets them there 15 minutes late. Over a school year, that is 50 hours of education. Kent was given £23 million for bus services. Beyond giving the money, what will the Department for Transport be doing to ensure that the money will increase the frequency of services so that children can get to school on time?
Mike Kane
Well, Mr Speaker, I do not know the particular details of the No. 2 or the No. 297—[Interruption.] Forgive me. As the hon. Member has pointed out, Kent county council has been given £23.1 million as part of our £1 billion package for buses. We are righting a lot of wrongs over the underfunding of rural services, in particular, over the years, and we expect to see a much better bus service across our whole country in the future.
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Lab)
May I, too, associate myself with the tributes paid to John Prescott?
Over the past few weeks, a number of parents have contacted me to ask whether school transport can be brought into the scope of the bus fare cap. Will the Minister agree to look at that?
Mike Kane
Services from participating operators that serve schools are open to members of the public and run all year round and will be eligible for inclusion in the scheme. The current fare cap does not allow for the inclusion of closed school services at the moment—that is for logistic reasons, I understand.
Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)
In the statement on bus services on Monday, I asked the Secretary of State about extending concessionary travel to children and young people. Her response was to suggest that MPs should talk to our individual local authorities about this, but that is not the approach that we take to concessionary travel for pensioners. I have just been contacted by somebody aged over 16 who cannot afford to go to college because it would cost £1,500 a year, and her family just cannot afford that. Is it not the case that concessionary bus travel for children and young people should be extended on a national basis, rather than having this postcode lottery?
Mike Kane
As a former schoolteacher, I know how important getting children to education is, and those bus services provide vital lines. That is why we have put £1 billion into our bus services network. I suggest that local services, such as mine in the Bee Network in Greater Manchester, have used their resource to improve access to education for young people.
Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)
Rural communities in towns and villages such as Holwell in my constituency, which I visited last week, often depend on buses for their day-to-day life and for getting their children to school, but all too often the reliability of these services makes it increasingly hard for families to depend on them. What new powers and funding will this Government be giving transport authorities, such as Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire, to ensure that they can get buses for my community back on track?
Mike Kane
Like our rail users, bus users depend on punctuality. Our bus services have not been up to scratch, with vast underfunding over the past few years. We are hoping that the £955 million investment in our buses will give local communities the powers they need to hold operators to account on the punctuality of those buses, so that our young people can get to their colleges and schools on time.
Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)
Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)
Ensuring that rail services and facilities are accessible to all is a core principle of our plan to fix Britain’s broken rail system. The Department is carefully considering the best approach to station accessibility, and recognises the huge social and economic benefits it brings to communities. MPs and stakeholders will be updated in due course.
Andrew Cooper
After Northwich station collapsed in 2021, an Access for All application was submitted, with the support of local partners, to add step-free access to the Chester-bound platform. Unfortunately, that opportunity was missed by the last Government, and the station has been rebuilt without those accessibility improvements. I welcome the inclusion of improving accessibility in Great British Railways’ mandate, but what steps can be taken to ensure that stations such as Northwich see improvements while we wait for GBR to get up and running?
Mike Kane
First, I thank my hon. Friend for picking up the baton on Northwich station—we all remember the terrible situation when the canopy collapsed. This Government are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway, and recognise its huge social and economic benefits. The Access for All programme will deliver 32 step-free stations this financial year, the most since that programme started. Anyone unable to use a station in the meantime can book alternative transport with the operator at no additional cost.
Freddie van Mierlo (Henley and Thame) (LD)
Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)
The Government are committed to delivering greener transport. The Department is overhauling public transport services to make the sustainable choice the most convenient choice. It is turbocharging the roll-out of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, and it is making the UK a world leader in the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels.
Dr Sandher
Transport is decarbonising more slowly than other sectors because, while car emissions have fallen by 20% since 1990, haulage emissions have barely moved. Earlier this month, my constituency hosted the East Midlands Hydrogen summit, where we saw how heavy goods vehicles can be powered through green, clean hydrogen. What steps is the Department taking, and what steps will it take, to support green hydrogen in the use of heavy goods vehicles?
Mike Kane
It is great that my hon. Friend is such a champion of hydrogen. The Department’s £200 million zero emission HGV and infrastructure demonstration programme is funding hundreds of hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric HGVs and their refuelling and recharging infrastructure. To support the transition to zero emission HGVs, data will be published and widely shared with the haulage and logistics industry.
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
Yesterday, Ford announced that 4,000 jobs are going across Europe, including 800 here, many of which are in my constituency of Basildon and Billericay. There are real concerns about the lack of take-up of electric vehicles because the Government are not providing clear enough long-term support, and about the extra taxes imposed on both ICE—internal combustion engine—vehicles and electric vehicles through vehicle excise duty at the Budget. Would the Minister meet me and other affected MPs to see what can be done to address these important issues affecting workers in our constituencies?
Mike Kane
The right hon. Member is right to raise this, and the Secretary of State did meet Ford yesterday. We understand that this is a concerning time for workers at Ford, especially as it is a significant player in the UK’s automotive industry. We committed £200 million in the Budget for this area of work, and we hope to alleviate the situation as soon as humanly possible.
Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)