Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rural road safety.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. To this end, my Department is developing its Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to decide on delivery of road safety initiatives, because of their knowledge of the roads for which they are responsible. We aid local authorities by providing guidance and initiatives such as our flagship road safety campaign, THINK!
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help increase active travel options in rural areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport recently announced almost £300 million of funding to boost active travel across England. This includes £222.5 million to local authorities outside of London, including rural areas. Active Travel England (ATE) supports local authorities through officer training to enable delivery of high-quality walking and cycling schemes, as well as design workshops and design assurance reviews of schemes under development.
ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this shortly. Officers in ATE and the Department regularly engage with colleagues in DEFRA about how best to harmonise the government’s approach to enabling sustainable and active transport in rural areas.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will reduce the cost of the Veterans Railcard.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are not planning to reduce the price of the Veterans’ Railcard. Any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy will require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support the sustainability of bus services in rural areas.
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. 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 Shropshire Council has been allocated over £4.4 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to identify long-term solutions to (a) potholes and (b) other road defects.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to enabling local highway authorities to maintain and renew their local highway networks effectively. For this financial year 2025/26 we have already announced a funding uplift of £500 million, compared to the last financial year, for local authorities to spend on highway maintenance. Through our new reporting requirements we are encouraging local authorities to focus on long-term preventative strategies rather than the short-term patching of potholes.
The Department also encourages and supports innovation and best practice in road surface repairs in other ways. It is updating the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure, which will contain new advice on matters such as surface treatments. It is also supporting a £30 million research programme which is allowing local authorities to trial innovative low-carbon ways of looking after their networks. One of the projects is allowing novel resurfacing materials to be tested and evaluated.
National Highways is also trialling innovative ways of resurfacing parts of the Strategic Road Network to give longer-lasting and more environmentally friendly results. Their work on projects like the resurfacing of the A64 in Yorkshire could pave the way for industry-wide changes, resulting in significant carbon savings and improved road surfaces for drivers.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve transport infrastructure within rural communities.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is committed to delivering the better, more reliable bus services that passengers deserve. In the Budget, the government confirmed investment of over £1 billion to support and improve bus services and keep fares affordable in England outside London, including in rural areas. Shropshire Council has been allocated over £4.4 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services.
Local authorities can use this funding to improve bus infrastructure and make services more frequent for local communities. We have also committed to reforming bus funding to give local leaders more control and flexibility to allow them to plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities.
Shropshire Council will also receive a share of the £650 million-plus funding for local transport announced in the Budget. This funding aims to support everyday journeys and improve transport connections in our towns, villages, and rural areas.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rural road safety.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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%).
The Department has awarded local authorities £185.8 million of funding between 2017 and 2024 through the Safer Roads Fund to improve the safety of England's most high risk 'A' roads. To date, it has funded 445.3 miles of rural roads which make up 62.4% of all funded routes.
The Department is developing a road safety strategy, the first in over ten years, and we will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with local authorities to develop integrated transport systems in rural areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to empowering local leaders to design and operate transport systems that better serve local needs. The Integrated National Transport Strategy will establish a people-first approach to transport across all areas and set the vision for better integration. The Department is already supporting rural connectivity through the Rural Transport Accelerator, and the Buses Bill which will place power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders across England.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to increase funding available for very light rail projects.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are considering how best to support mass transit long-term as part of the Spending Review and we will work closely with local authorities to understand what is needed to improve and grow their networks by learning from their experiences and building on their successes.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to provide £153 million funding for local highways maintenance in Shropshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing our road network as a priority, on which Ministers will say more in future.
The previous Government made a number of funding commitments in the Network North Command Paper, and these will be examined closely by this Government in the coming months.