PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Topical Questions - 21 November 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

Moving fast and fixing things is a promise not a soundbite. Yesterday the landmark Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill completed its passage through this place and now awaits Royal Assent. This is a significant milestone, bringing the railways back into public hands, restoring trust after years of lack of trust and renewing a promise to passengers that the railways can work better for them. At the same time, we are tackling rail performance now. London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express cancellations are down. I have tasked the Office of Rail and Road with reviewing ticket enforcements.

On roads, this Government’s £500 million boost for local highways next year will support local leaders to fix up to 1 million more potholes per year, delivering on our manifesto pledge. On top of this, we are delivering transformative investment in infrastructure that connects our great cities and towns. This Government are delivering transport enhancements that drive growth, improve lives and connect every corner of the country.

The storm in 2014 broke the Dawlish sea wall, collapsed cliffs and blocked the south-west main line for months. Will the Secretary of State assure us that the crucial rail resilience programme final phase will be funded so that Network Rail keeps the project alive, rather than halting it in its tracks?

As we look to settling Network Rail’s control period 7, of course that will be a major consideration in the next funding settlement.

The Budget committed significant funding both for mayoral areas and those not covered by mayoral combined authorities through the local transport fund. Crucially, new powers will be delivered to those areas to ensure they can take back control of their local public transport services. Of course I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Greater London is the most heavily populated and most economically active area in the whole country. It also has the highest level of bus use. In the last financial year, the level of bus subsidy in London amounted to £646 million. In the Secretary of State’s statement on Monday, of the £1 billion of funding that she indicated, £700 million will be spent on producing bus planning documents, and only £243 million is going to bus services. That will not touch the sides, will it? Is the truth not that, far from it being generational reform, it is publicly funded window dressing?

The way that the previous Government approached bus service improvement plans was to force local authorities to waste money on developing those plans. This money is going directly to authorities to make sure they are delivering public services. Public transport is a public service and it should always be funded.

Like my hon. Friend, we are all thinking of Lord Prescott and his family today.

My officials have had meetings with Northumberland county council, which is working to strengthen the case and provide further analytical work before the scheme can be fully appraised. I would be happy to update my hon. Friend on those discussions when I can do so.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I congratulate the Secretary of State on the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill yesterday. Northern Rail has been publicly owned for the past four years, running trains on tracks that have been publicly owned for more than two decades. Sadly, Northern Rail still has some of the worst cancellation and punctuality rates in the country. Can the Secretary of State tell us what she has learned from her Department’s experience with Northern Rail? What else is she planning beyond nationalisation to improve the rail network?

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his party’s support in passing the public ownership Bill yesterday in the other place. He is right, and I have made clear to Northern Rail that its performance is not acceptable. We are addressing that through new agreements on rest-day working to drive down cancellations, and crucially through integrating operations with Network Rail to deliver savings and better performance.

Yes, I am on the same line.

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I have repeatedly made clear that it is not good enough. We inherited a railway where workforce terms and conditions were completely outdated and not fit for a modern railway. We are addressing that, and as a result Northern’s cancellations are starting to come down, but we appreciate that there is still a long way to go.

I would be happy to get my officials to write to the hon. Gentleman to provide an update on discussions around those important schemes.

Our manifesto was clear that we are committed to improving rail connectivity in the north of England. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to address the specific issues on that line.

The Ely and Haughley upgrades are vital for getting freight from Felixstowe off roads and on to rail, reducing congestion on the A14 and providing much-needed relief to villages such as Kentford in my constituency. Can the Secretary of State commit to a timescale for their commencement?

I am well aware of the strong case for the Ely junction improvement and the impact that will have on freight. That is absolutely being considered as we look towards the 10-year infrastructure strategy and we consider GBR’s stretching target for getting freight off the roads and on to the railways.

I think a yes will do.

Sure thing.

My condolences to John Prescott’s family. I am long enough in the tooth to remember when he was the Transport Secretary.

A feasibility study on the Borders rail link was a fundamental part of the Borderlands growth deal. For some reason, the Scottish Government do not seem to prioritise transport links with England, so it is vital that the Department pushes that forward.

I am engaged with the Transport Minister in Scotland on exactly that issue.

My hon. Friend is right that Northern rail services on that line are very poor. That is exactly what we are addressing through continued negotiation on rest-day working agreements. My noble Friend the Rail Minister will be happy to meet him.

We have just seen the third fatality in six months at the Plusha junction in my constituency. How many more lives will be lost before her Department, National Highways and Cornwall Council finally plan to implement a flyover at this accident blackspot?

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that. We are developing the first road safety strategy in over 10 years, and improvements in infrastructure like that are exactly what will be considered under that plan.

Of course, I recognise that Branston bridge is a vital part of Staffordshire county council’s road network, linking communities and businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency. In addition to the £500 million of maintenance funding that the Chancellor announced in the Budget, there is also £650 million of transport funding outside city regions next year. Full detail on how that funding will be allocated will be confirmed in due course.

Several key roads in my constituency are either closed or partially closed for roadworks, which are being done by utility companies who are increasingly getting around road permits by declaring an emergency. Will the Minister look into that to ensure that utility companies use emergency powers only when absolutely necessary?

The hon. Member raises a really important point about the disruption of roadworks. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we mitigate those problems and deal with them exactly as he said.

I associate myself with the comments about Lord Prescott, a true working-class hero.

Constituents regularly tell me that the No. 57 bus that connects Stocksbridge to Sheffield is often delayed and does not always stop, even when bus stops are busy. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the funding she announced this week will provide reliable and affordable bus routes connecting our rural and urban communities in Penistone and Stocksbridge?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and colleague from Sheffield. I am well aware of that bus route and can confirm that the £18 million settlement for South Yorkshire will deliver better, more reliable and more frequent services for the good people of Sheffield.