Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the re-opening of Hammersmith Bridge.

As owners of Hammersmith Bridge, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) is responsible for the maintenance, repair and decision-making on its upkeep.

The Government has ensured that £4 million is being spent on the stabilisation and repair of the bridge via the TfL Extraordinary Funding and Financing package agreed on 31 October 2020. This has funded mitigation works which will give us a better insight into the condition of the bridge and de-risk the overall works programme, helping expedite the long-term repairs. This is a vital step before any other engineering works can be undertaken.

We have commissioned engineering experts to assess the condition of the bridge and their reports suggested the logic keeping the bridge entirely closed could be revisited following the above works. We continue to explore this possibility with LBHF and their engineering consultants.

We recognise there needs to be a temporary solution in place for residents to be able to cross the river whilst the bridge is closed. As part of the TfL bailout last October we provided funding to TfL to set up and run a ferry service.

We have received outline financing options for the long-term bridge repair from LBHF but require much more detail before they can be properly assessed. We are working with the borough to develop these options further.