Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of SEND pupils in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) England impacted by changes to the bus fare cap.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Education is the lead government department with responsibility for policy on home to school transport, including provision for pupils with special educational needs.
With regard to the national bus fare cap, this will be designed to be as equitable as possible in terms of its support for passengers across England. One of the key principles of the scheme will be to include ‘open’ services which allows any member of public to board. ‘Closed’ school services, defined as a service which would not allow a member of the general public to board, and school services which operate in term-time only will not be eligible for inclusion.
Services from participating operators that serve schools, are open to members of the public and run all year round will be eligible for inclusion in the scheme. This is the same approach as that taken under the current fare cap.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a new direct rail link between Leicester and Coventry for Leicester's economy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is conducting a thorough review of the previous Government's transport plans to ensure that our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers. Decisions about individual projects will be informed by the review process and confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential economic impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on people in Leicestershire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are working closely with Network Rail and Midlands Connect to maximise the benefits of Midlands Rail Hub throughout the region, including in Leicestershire. Midlands Connect are leading on the development of the rationale for the scheme including the distribution of the socio-economic benefits and will be able to provide more detail.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of rail journeys made between Coventry and Leicester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department holds information on the estimates of the number of journeys between all pairs of mainline stations in Great Britain by financial year in the Origin and destination matrix (ODM), published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The total number of journeys between Coventry Station and Leicester Station (in either direction) is reported below.
Table: Number of journeys between Coventry Station1 and Leicester Station by Financial Year
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/232 | 2023/24 |
64,210 | 9,110 | 29,272 | 55,402 | 40,796 |
Source: Origin and destination matrix (ODM), Office of Rail and Road https://raildata.org.uk/dataProducts?textSearch=Origin%20and%20destination%20matrix%20(ODM)
Notes:
1. The figures are for Coventry Station and Leicester Station only. They do not include journeys to or from Coventry Arena.
2. There is a break in series after 2021/22. Data quality improvements mean that data from 2022/23 onwards is not comparable with previous years.