Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what further steps she plans to take to make rural bus routes sustainable.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in rural areas in North Dorset. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.
In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Dorset Council has been allocated £3.8 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to bus services in this Spending Review by confirming additional funding of around £900 million of revenue funding each year from 26/27 to maintain and improve vital bus services, including taking forward bus franchising pilots, and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the removal of the £2 cap on fairs on the number of people using buses in (a) Dorset and (b) England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap, including analysis on bus usage, was published on 12 February, and the Department does not plan to publish any further reports on the £2 fare cap.
Trends in bus usage will continue to be monitored and reported through the Department’s national statistics which are published annually.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish an analysis of the trends in bus usage for the full duration of the £2 bus cap.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap, including analysis on bus usage, was published on 12 February, and the Department does not plan to publish any further reports on the £2 fare cap.
Trends in bus usage will continue to be monitored and reported through the Department’s national statistics which are published annually.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department plans to publish the Road Investment Strategy 3; and what funding is available via that scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) will cover the five-year period from April 2026 to March 2031. We expect to publish that Strategy at the end of 2025 with a draft Strategy published in the summer of 2025. An Interim Settlement for National Highways will be in place covering 2025-26.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Government officials are working on the project related to the construction of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The government is committed to upgrading our infrastructure, and officials are looking at a range of options to level up the country and support growth and productivity in every region.
We will set out more details on our plans to increase investment in infrastructure later this year.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has employed (a) consultants and (b) engineers to work on the project related to the construction of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The government is committed to upgrading our infrastructure, and officials are looking at a range of options to level up the country and support growth and productivity in every region.
We will set out more details on our plans to increase investment in infrastructure later this year.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to prohibit the parking of vehicles on pavements.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department will set out its position when it responds to the Transport Select Committee report on pavement parking once a new committee has been formed.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to publish his Department's response to its consultations on the (a) review of HGV periodic testing and inspection exemptions and (b) goods vehicle operating licensing exemptions.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Both the consultations took place between 11th December 2014 and 5th March 2015. I hope to publish the responses received to the consultations soon. The consultations were published by the last Government and we will need to consider the way forward before a full Departmental response can be published.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on applying a 32 tonne weight limit to volumetric vehicles.
Answered by Andrew Jones
We are aware that the custom and practice for some 4 axle rigid volumetric concrete mixers in recent years has been to operate in excess of the 32 tonne weight limit specified in regulations. A consultation earlier this year about the scope of exemptions from annual roadworthiness testing for some types of Heavy Goods Vehicles sought views about whether a higher weight limit could be set for such vehicles to avoid dislocation in the market. We have the responses to the consultation now and are considering this issue.