Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the social cost, and (2) the loss to the UK economy, of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.

Hammersmith bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and therefore the Department for Transport has not undertaken any independent assessments of the social or economic impact of the closure of the bridge. The submission of a satisfactory full business case, including analyses of the impact of closure and the benefits of reopening, is a condition for the release of any Government funding contribution to the cost of repairing the bridge, as agreed in the TfL extraordinary funding and finance agreement of 1 June 2021.