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Written Question
Railways: Shrewsbury
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with Avanti West Coast on the withdrawal of the direct Euston to Shrewsbury service.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group over many areas, including timetabling decisions.

The Department specifies the train services to be operated by train companies including Avanti West Coast through National Rail Contracts. As part of industry wide efforts to align timetables to changing demand patterns and restore the financial stability of the railway, the Government asked all operators to present cost saving options. Due to very low passenger numbers, the service between Shrewsbury and London is currently operating at a loss of £1.4 million per year. We cannot ask taxpayers to maintain the historically high level of financial support for the industry indefinitely, so the service will be withdrawn from June 2024. West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales provide sufficient capacity for passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Department has agreed that WMR will introduce a second hourly Birmingham to Shrewsbury semi-fast service in June 2024 to operate via the Stour Valley and provide quicker journey time between Shropshire towns and Birmingham.


Written Question
Science and Technology: Marketing
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is engaging with (a) local authorities and (b) mayoral combined authorities on (i) branding and (ii) promotion of (A) science, (B) technology and (C) innovation.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As part of the government’s devolution deals, DSIT is committed to working with Mayoral Combined Authorities to strengthen collaboration on science, innovation and technology.

Through the Innovation Accelerator programme, DSIT with UKRI and DBT are championing the UK’s science, technology and innovation offer and promoting regionally-led activities in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

Great campaigns promote UK export or investment opportunities. The GREAT.gov.uk website provides support for UK companies, overseas buyers and overseas investors into the UK for a broad range of sectors including science and technology.


Written Question
Railways: Competition
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to (a) allow multiple train operating companies to operate on each rail line and (b) take other steps to help increase competition on regional lines.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We recognise that competition can be beneficial for passengers as it can drive innovation and improvements to services. We have been clear that, in the right circumstances, open access operators can play a role in increasing this competition and have supported recent applications such as Wrexham, Shropshire & Midland Railway’s application to operate services for customers in North Wales, the West Midlands and on the West Coast Mainline.


Written Question
Diesel Vehicles: Vans
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel vans were registered for the first time in each region of England in (a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The number of new diesel vans (light goods vehicles) registered to keepers in each region of England in a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023, is given in the tables below for the period for which data are available:

Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (93% in 2022) new registrations of diesel vans were to company keepers.

Region

2022

East Midlands

21,065

East of England

24,933

London

8,729

North East

10,253

North West

29,206

South East

51,053

South West

34,260

West Midlands

24,220

Yorkshire and Humberside

19,844

Total

223,563

Region

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

East Midlands

1,477

1,309

4,077

2,265

2,215

3,420

East of England

2,446

1,795

4,381

1,605

1,898

3,289

London

573

414

1,379

581

700

812

North East

683

327

1,227

884

1,034

1,784

North West

2,086

1,518

4,864

2,272

2,610

3,494

South East

4,310

3,892

8,536

4,588

5,704

6,485

South West

2,579

2,359

5,368

2,542

2,786

3,774

West Midlands

1,834

1,257

4,061

1,774

1,815

2,119

Yorkshire and Humberside

1,465

1,488

4,079

1,728

1,820

3,084

Total

17,453

14,359

37,972

18,239

20,582

28,261


Written Question
Diesel Vehicles: Cars
Wednesday 6th December 2023

Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel cars were registered for the first time in each region of England in (a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The number of new diesel cars registered to keepers in each region of England in a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023, is given in the tables below for the period for which data are available:

Region

2022

East Midlands

10,370

East of England

11,574

London

5,385

North East

3,931

North West

16,493

South East

24,300

South West

11,764

West Midlands

11,738

Yorkshire and Humberside

10,493

Total

106,048

Region

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

East Midlands

602

369

1,897

1,039

1,237

1,292

East of England

656

502

1,739

857

762

900

London

388

197

809

422

441

460

North East

223

128

589

291

284

320

North West

1,046

574

2,687

1,269

1,327

1,534

South East

2,279

1,243

5,048

2,046

2,237

2,449

South West

638

394

1,643

746

761

827

West Midlands

715

441

1,777

1,048

716

944

Yorkshire and Humberside

689

328

1,686

839

726

939

Total

7,236

4,176

17,875

8,557

8,491

9,665

Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (61% in 2022) new registrations of diesel vehicles are to company keepers.


Written Question
Railways: Ticket Offices
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of FTE vacancies there are in (a) ticket offices and (b) other station staff grades at (i) Avanti West Coast, (ii) Chiltern, (iii) C2C, (iv) East Midlands, (v) Greater Anglia, (vi) Great Western Railway, (vii) Govia Thameslink Railway, (viii) LNER, (ix) Northern Trains, (x) Southeastern, (xi) South Western Railway, (xii) Transpennine Express and (xiii) West Midlands Trains.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department does not routinely receive information from train operating companies on vacancies for roles at railway stations.


Written Question
Railways: Ticket Offices
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the proportion of time that ticket offices were not open during their regulated hours at (a) Avanti West Coast, (b) Chiltern, (c) C2C, (d) East Midlands, (e) Greater Anglia, (f) Great Western Railway, (g) Govia Thameslink Railway, (h) LNER, (i) Northern Trains, (j) Southeastern, (k) South Western Railway, (l) Transpennine Express and (m) West Midlands Trains in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department receives a range of management information to support effective contract management. This data is provided under terms of commercial confidentiality and cannot be released. It is the train operating companies' responsibility to comply with their regulated hours (schedule 17).


Written Question
Railways: Crewe
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve rail services for passengers in Crewe.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department continues to work closely with train operating companies to review options to improve performance and increase services to and from Crewe. Together we are working to develop a resilient timetable that is appropriate to passenger demand and delivers good value for the taxpayer.

West Midlands Trains (WMT) will be improving its Birmingham - Crewe - Liverpool services from December 2023 by increasing services to half hourly on this route at peak times and for most of the day on Saturdays. WMT is also trialling 12-car train operation on selected Sunday services on its Crewe to Euston route due to rising demand.


Written Question
Service Industries: Meriden
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the contribution of the services sector in Meriden constituency to (a) exports and (b) economic growth.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

There is currently no data at the constituency level available to assess the potential merits of the contribution of the services sector in Meriden constituency to exports and economic growth.

The UK is a highly service-based economy and the second biggest exporter of services in the world, with the sector contributing to around half of UK exports and 80% of our economy. In 2022, UK services exports were a record £401 billion, up 4% compared to 2018 (adjusted for inflation) – one of the stronger recoveries in the G7. We are working with the Office for National Statistics and HM Revenue and Customs to improve estimates of trade at the smaller geographies.

The department works closely with local partners, including Solihull Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority, to identify and nurture opportunities for economic growth. The Combined Authority has been allocated in excess of £105m in funding from sources such as UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Made Smarter and Growth Hub to provide local support which would help companies to grow. This includes the professional and financial services sector, which has been identified as a key sector in the West Midlands Combined Authority’s ‘Plan for Growth’.


Written Question
Life Sciences: West Midlands
Monday 26th June 2023

Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what fiscal steps she is taking to support the life sciences sector in the West Midlands.

Answered by George Freeman

The call for proposals for up to £38m biomanufacturing fund and £250m LIFTS initiative are open UK-wide. Additionally, funding for skills and regulations will benefit companies across the UK and £121 million for clinical trials will support the delivery of clinical trials across England. With 66% of the sector employed outside London and South-East, these UK wide initiatives will benefit all regions. At least £9.4m has been awarded to Birmingham for the Mental Health Mission, to set up the Midlands Translational Research Centre demonstrator site. Funding will be used to support research and novel treatments for mental health conditions.