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Written Question
Borderlands Line
Thursday 14th July 2022

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he plans to take steps to help reduce journey times on the Bidston to Wrexham line.

Answered by Robert Buckland

The UK Government recognises the importance of cross-border connectivity, including the Wrexham to Bidston line. This is why we commissioned Sir Peter Hendy to conduct his review into Union Connectivity.

The final report of the Union Connectivity Review contains recommendations which aim to improve connectivity in North Wales and the Mersey Dee region. The Government is considering the Review’s recommendations carefully before responding.


Written Question
Manufacturing Industries: North Wales and North West
Friday 9th October 2020

Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the manufacturing sector in the North Wales Mersey Dee region.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

The Department continues to engage with industry and suppliers to ensure that we can support our?manufacturing sectors?during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers have been leading a series of roundtables, bringing together businesses, business representative groups, and leading academics, including representatives from the Welsh Government, to consider the measures needed to support the UK’s economic recovery.

The Government’s support for the manufacturing sector includes £147 million towards the Made Smarter programme to support digitalisation in UK manufacturing, £1 billion for the Automotive Transformation Fund, and £1.9 billion committed to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme.

In addition, the UK Government is investing £120 million in the North Wales Growth Deal, which includes support for manufacturing. The manufacturing project that the Growth Deal is funding is run by Glyndwr University.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: North Wales and North West
Thursday 8th October 2020

Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to engage with (a) the devolved Administrations and (b) local authorities on regional support for the functional economy of North Wales and Mersey Dee.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

The UK Government regularly meets with the Welsh Government and local authorities to discuss support for regional economies in Wales. I wrote to Cllr Mark Pritchard, Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance (MDA) on 28 September 2020, and met with him on 6 October 2020, to offer our support for the work that the MDA is doing to bring key partners together to support manufacturing in the region.

We continue to work in collaboration with both the Welsh Government and regional partners to ensure that the UK Government’s £120m funding commitment for the North Wales Growth Deal is delivered as soon as possible.


Written Question
Railways: North Wales
Monday 9th October 2017

Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to electrify the north Wales railway line.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We continue to work with the rail industry, the Welsh Government and regional stakeholders, including the North Wales and Mersey Dee Rail Task Force and Transport for the North, to see what more can be accomplished to deliver better journeys for passengers and freight customers in the North Wales corridor.

The rail industry’s Welsh Route Study published in March 2016 looked at the case for electrification of the North Wales Main Line (NWML) - including the link from Chester to Warrington - and concluded it had a benefit to cost ratio of 0.35 to 1 if evaluated on the basis of current train services, or 0.58 to 1 if evaluated against an enhanced level of train services for which funding has not yet been identified.

The Welsh Government has recently with our agreement issued an Invitation to Tender for the next Wales and Borders franchise seeking a step change in the quality of rail travel in Wales and the borders region. The competition for the new franchise for the West Coast, the West Coast Partnership, is also underway. This provides vital connections between London, Crewe, Chester and North Wales. We expect the next franchise to be a far more punctual and reliable service and offer better connections between the towns and cities it serves to enable economic growth.


Written Question

Question Link

Monday 24th July 2017

Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs and benefits of electrifying the railway line between Crewe and Holyhead.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has made no such assessment. We continue to work with the rail industry, the Welsh Government and regional stakeholders, including the North Wales and Mersey Dee Rail Task Force and Transport for the North, to see what more can be accomplished to deliver better journeys for passengers and freight customers in this corridor.


Written Question
Railways
Friday 16th December 2016

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Growth Track 360 proposals on rail improvements; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

I welcome the publication of the North Wales and Mersey Dee Rail Task Force’s ‘Growth Track 360’ prospectus, which sets out an ambitious programme of desirable improvements to rail infrastructure in North Wales and across the border into the North West of England. My officials have met with representatives from the Task Force to advise them on a suitable approach to developing their initial proposals. I now look to the Task Force to take forward prioritisation of the most promising options for enhancing the railways in North Wales against clear local and regional objectives, and to identify possible funding.


Written Question
Local Growth Deals: North Wales
Wednesday 13th July 2016

Asked by: Edward Leigh (Conservative - Gainsborough)

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent progress the Government has made on a North Wales growth deal.

Answered by Guto Bebb

I visited Coleg Cambria last week to attend the North Wales Growth Deal Summit with the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, Mersey Dee Alliance, the Rail Task Force, CBI and the FSB.

It is vital that partners come together to bring forward a deal that works across the border and drives economic growth.


Written Question
Crewe-Holyhead Railway Line: Electrification
Thursday 14th April 2016

Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of electrifying the railway line from (a) Crewe to Chester and (b) Chester to Holyhead.

Answered by Claire Perry

We await the industry’s advice on future investment priorities for the England and Wales network in the next Control Period, building on the Wales and other Route Studies. We continue to work with the industry, the Welsh Government and local groups, including the recently announced North Wales and Mersey Dee Region Task Force, to see what more can be accomplished to deliver better journeys for passengers and freight customers in this corridor. We welcome the recent submission by the Welsh Government of their Strategic Outline Business Case for electrification from Crewe/Warrington to Holyhead as a contribution to this work.