Lilian Greenwood
MP for Nottingham South · Labour · United Kingdom
“For those who qualify, financial support is available through universal credit, including for those who are in work but on lower incomes. If needed, that support can be available on day one through an advance.”
“In the sort of circumstances that my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest has described, we can understand how those issues can arise. If a child sadly has an end-of-life diagnosis, special rules are rightly in place. Those claims are always fast-tracked and the three-month qualifying period does not apply.”
“It starts with the issue of need. The point at which the child became eligible for disability living allowance marks the start of the qualifying period, even if that precedes the point at which parents make a claim.”
“I will perhaps come later in my speech to what the Government are planning to do. I am pleased to tell colleagues that between October 2024 and March 2025, the Department recruited and redeployed in excess of 100 case managers to improve clearance times for child DLA new claims.”
“There can, of course, be few circumstances more exceptionally difficult than those faced by seriously ill children and their parents. Along with the emotional strain, parents can understandably experience a significant impact upon work and household income, as well as facing extra costs, as my hon.”
“I am delighted to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) on securing this important debate. She has made a particularly valuable, thoughtful and passionate contribution this morning, and I join her in wishing Mabel, her mum Rachael and their whole family well.”
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“I am delighted to recognise that fantastic work. Giving children the opportunity to walk, wheel or cycle to school is fundamental to their development and, as many people have said, builds good habits from an early age. When a quarter of children leaving primary school are overweight and 40% of primary school children are being driven to school, now is the time to provide healthier alternatives. A number of hon. Members talked about school streets. Active Travel England recently published guidance that will assist local authorities in planning, developing and implementing school streets. As a direct result of its funding, 180 school streets have been developed, and of course there are many more.”
“The shadow Minister suggested that things were worse in 2006 than under his Government, but according to the RAC pothole index, drivers were nearly 40% more likely to have a pothole-related breakdown in 2024 than they were under the last Labour Government.”
“The previous Government promised action for almost a decade and did nothing. We plan to respond to the 2020 consultation and set out our policy in this area. When I tell people that I am the roads Minister, I can pretty much guarantee that the first question they will ask is, “What are you doing to fix my street?” It is not surprising that this issue is so often raised with us when we are out and about in our constituencies. The appalling state of our local roads and pavements is all too visible to us every single day. As we have heard time and again in this debate, it is unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists and bikers, it makes motorists’ lives a misery and it is holding back economic growth.”
“Friends the Members for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) and for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) rightly reminded us, Staffordshire residents can do something about that problem by voting Labour on 1 May, as can residents in Derbyshire, Northumberland, Hertfordshire, Lancashire and many other parts of the country. I am grateful to Scottish colleagues for their contributions. It is disappointing to hear that the SNP Government are not acting to tackle the state of Scotland’s roads, as this Government are in England and my Labour colleagues are in Wales. The Scottish people deserve better. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) raised the important issue of pavement parking, as did others, and he was right to do so, because it contributes to our broken pavements, which are so unsafe for many elderly and disabled people.”
“I assure her and other members of the Transport Committee that work is already under way on a complete review of the guidance—the code of practice on well-managed highway infrastructure, to give it its full name. I am really pleased that my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) and for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) highlighted the innovation that has been adopted by Stoke-on-Trent’s Labour council and its highways department—investing in AI to properly understand and monitor its road network and using the Pothole Pro to undertake long-lasting repairs. I am really sorry to hear that Conservative Staffordshire county council is not as responsive to the concerns of my hon. Friends’ constituents who are calling for investment in road safety. As my hon.”
“It is clear that local roads maintenance is an issue that affects every one of us, and that our constituents care about deeply. I am grateful to all hon. Members who have spoken up on behalf of their constituents. I assure them that the Government get it and are determined to do something about it. There were too many contributions for me to mention them all, but my hon. Friend the Member for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard (Alex Mayer) highlighted why it is important that local councils are required to publish reports on their plans. We want people to know if their local council is choosing not to spend the extra funding that we are providing on fixing their cratered, potholed, pimpled roads.”
“It is perhaps not surprising that the Conservative Benches have been so empty during this debate. This Government are determined to ensure that things will be different, and we will do better.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. As the Secretary of State said earlier, this Government inherited crumbling roads with local highway authorities struggling to stay on top of an ever-increasing backlog of maintenance. Of course, there are many reasons for that, including the weather and the increasing volume and weight of traffic using our roads, but it is abundantly clear that the funding provided by the previous Government was simply not enough to allow local authorities to deal with the problem. No one knows this better than Karen Shore, our Labour candidate in Runcorn and Helsby, who served for many years as the cabinet member for highways on her local council. As she and we remember, the Tories made promises for 14 years but, in reality, any funding uplifts were short-lived and never fully materialised.”
“It will help the Department and the public to understand matters such as which authorities are putting their own funding into the pot, and which are doing the most to prepare their networks for the wetter winters that we are already seeing.”
“Strangely, the only time the previous Government promised long-term funding was nine months before the general election, knowing full well that they had not put any cash aside to pay for it. We are determined to ensure that the extra funding we are providing genuinely leads to extra spending by local authorities, rather than simply allowing them to put less of their own funding into highway maintenance. That is exactly why we are introducing the extra reporting requirements that the Secretary of State set out. The information that councils publish in June will shine a spotlight on this issue in a way that has not happened before. It will allow local people to see for themselves what repairs and resurfacing their council is planning, and how this compares with other local authorities.”
“My hon. Friend makes an important point, and people can see for themselves which party is on the side of motorists and road users. We have provided an extra £500 million in the current financial year, on top of the previous Government’s funding baseline and the Network North money for 2024-25. It is a huge increase. For most authorities, it means around 36% or 37% more than last year, and of course it is just the start. As many hon. Members have observed today, a one-off uplift will not fix all the problems—it was never going to. However, through the spending review, we are determined to secure a long-term funding settlement to allow local highway authorities to plan ahead with confidence.”
“I will say more in a few months’ time about the longer term funding outlook for all local authorities. We look forward to working with councils over the months ahead to ensure that our funding uplift is making a real difference to all our constituents. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered road maintenance.”
“I doubt that this will be the last time we discuss potholes, but this Government are determined to give local authorities the tools and resources they need to get on top of the problem. We want local councils to be more transparent about what they are doing with taxpayers’ money, and we want them to follow best practice. We want councils to learn from each other and benchmark each other’s performance, so that the overall standard of delivery is driven up. Getting on top of the backlog in local highway maintenance is a high priority for this Government. We recognise that there are tough choices here for councils, but getting more potholes fixed was a manifesto commitment and one we are determined to deliver. We have hit the ground running but I know that there is a lot more still to do.”
“Lane rental can help highway authorities to reduce the impact of works taking place on the busiest roads at the busiest times. Schemes allow authorities to charge utilities up to £2,500 per day for works on those roads, encouraging companies to work smarter. We know that many more councils are developing lane rental schemes, and we plan to update our guidance to help them develop those schemes. We have announced changes that mean that highway authorities will be required to spend at least 50% of surplus funds raised from lane rental on road maintenance. To conclude, I repeat my thanks to all hon. Members who have contributed to what has been a rich and positive debate. We all want to see an improvement to the state of our local roads, pavements and other parts of our highways networks.”
“Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) rightly described the cost of failing to do so for local people and businesses. We are committed to ensuring that the proper policy framework is in place to enable authorities to co-ordinate and plan road and street works effectively. My hon. Friends the Members for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) and for Stafford will be pleased to hear that we have recently announced that we will be doing more to hold utilities to account for disruptive works. We will be doubling fixed penalty notices to increase the level of deterrent they provide and improve compliance. Charges will also be applied at weekends and on bank holidays to reduce congestion and disruption during those times.”
“Yes, we are asking local authorities to give us their best estimate of the number of potholes they have filled in recent years. We also want them to tell us what they are doing to shift their focus to long-term preventive maintenance, because avoiding potholes forming in the first place is, as the Public Accounts Committee recognised, generally much better value for money than temporarily patching the same pothole again and again once it has become a safety-critical problem. Let me move on to street works and to what we are doing to respond to the complaints that our roads often seem to be dug up again and again by utility companies in an unco-ordinated way. It is the responsibility of the highway authority to co-ordinate any works taking place on its roads. The hon.”
“This Government believe in devolution. It is for local councils, elected by local people, to decide their own priorities. I know we have spent a lot of time talking about potholes this evening, and despite all the attention they get and the headlines they generate, potholes are only a small part of what local highway authorities are dealing with. Local highway authorities have to look after complex networks of pavements, cycle lanes, bridges, tunnels, lighting columns, drainage channels, culverts, retaining walls and much else besides. Potholes are just the tip of a very large iceberg, but they are the thing that is most visible to road users, whether they are in a car, on a bike, or being jarred while sitting on a bus.”
“This Government have announced a £500 million road maintenance funding uplift for next year, as well as £300 million for active travel schemes. That will improve road conditions and safety for all road users, including delivery riders.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important issue, which I know will be familiar to many Members across the House. In December, the Minister for Local Transport wrote to the main food delivery companies to remind them of the importance the Government place on the safety of food delivery riders and other road users and to remind them of their obligations. It is essential that delivery riders follow the highway code, despite the time pressure they are sometimes operating under.”
“Great Western Railway is currently operating a trial of direct Saturday services between Bristol Temple Meads and Oxford that call at Swindon. Officials are working with Great Western Railway to explore the feasibility of expanding the current Saturday trial of services between Bristol and Oxford to other days of the week.”
“My hon. Friend will know of the ministerial team’s commitment to Swindon. We are committed to delivering a unified and simplified rail system that focuses on improved services for passengers and better value for taxpayers. We are actively exploring the feasibility of the proposal that he described.”
“The Department is working with the rail industry to improve the performance of rail services in Gloucestershire, while Gloucestershire county council’s scheme for the M5 junction 9 and A46 in Ashchurch is currently being considered as part of the Department’s major road network and large local majors programmes.”
“Our new maritime decarbonisation strategy, which launched this week, is the latest demonstration of this Government’s commitment to decarbonising transport. We are overhauling public transport services to make the sustainable choice the most convenient one, turbocharging the roll-out of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, and making the UK a world leader in the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels.”
“I too welcome the steps that Mayor Coppard is taking to deliver better bus services for passengers in South Yorkshire. I know that the Minister for Local Transport was delighted to launch our new UK bus manufacturing expert panel in Sheffield earlier this month, which will help to ensure the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing. Expanding the roll-out of zero emission buses is central to our efforts to decarbonise the bus fleet and improve air quality. Our Bus Services (No. 2) Bill will accelerate that by requiring bus operators not to use new non-zero emission buses.”
“The Rail Minister in the other place is very much focused on how we decarbonise our rail sector. A combination of electrification and extended use of batteries can allow us to do that. I am sure he will be happy to write to the hon. Lady about the specifics of the case she raises.”
“The Government are accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure: it was up 32% in the 12 months to 1 March this year. We are engaging with industry to improve consumers’ experience, including with contactless payments and design standards. Electric vehicles also receive favourable tax rates, with targeted grants supporting electric vans, taxis and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.”
“My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that charge point numbers increased by 45% in rural areas such as the one he represents, and that the North East combined authority received almost £17.3 million from the local electric vehicle infrastructure fund, which means more public charge points for his constituents. We are also supporting cross-pavement solutions that provide safe charging options for those without driveways, as he describes.”
“It is lovely that people are so keen. Charge point availability is increasing everywhere. As of 1 March, there were over 75,000 UK public charging devices, with one added to the network every 29 minutes, but we recognise that there are still regional disparities. The local EV infrastructure fund will deliver a further 100,000 charge points right across England.”
“The right hon. Member is absolutely right to raise concerns that although charge point availability is increasing rapidly, there are regional disparities and differences between urban and rural areas. The local EV infrastructure fund is designed purposely to tackle some of that regional disparity. As I say, charge points in rural areas have increased by 45% in the last year. The East Riding of Yorkshire, which covers the right hon. Member’s constituency, has received £2.7 million in LEVI funding; I hope that that will deliver the improvements he seeks for his constituents.”
“I know that the global challenges facing the automotive industry have been significant over the past couple of months. During the ZEV mandate consultation, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I met 95% of the vehicle manufacturers. We are currently considering carefully the representations that they and others have made. We will make a further announcement later in the spring.”
“I was pleased to find myself in Norfolk announcing huge amounts of investment in the region’s roads. There are a large number of schemes awaiting the outcome of the spending review, but I would be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman about the specific scheme that he raises.”
“I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman’s local council has suffered the same fate as councils across the country as a result of the under-investment in local roads maintenance under the previous Government, but they will now have benefited from their share of our £500 million uplift for the year ahead, and they are absolutely encouraged to use that to resurface the roads and fix potholes.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise concerns. Obviously, enforcement of the rules on using cycles and e-cycles is a matter for the police, but I would be very happy to meet her to discuss the issue.”
“As a departmental team, we have regular meetings with our colleagues across the devolved Governments, including on issues of how to extend EV charging, and I would be very happy to pick that up with the hon. Gentleman further.”
“The hon. Member makes an important point: we need to ensure that there is access everywhere across our nation to electric vehicle charging points. In the autumn Budget, we committed £200 million to supporting the roll-out of charging infrastructure, which is bolstered by over £6 billion in private investment that has been committed up to 2030. The hon. Member will be pleased to hear that there are over 73,000 public charging points in the UK, over 20,000 have been added in the past year, and there has been a 45% increase in rural charging points over the past year.”
“What an absolutely astonishing intervention by the shadow Minister. It was his Government who introduced the zero emission vehicle mandate, and we are not proposing to change the trajectory that they introduced. I would gently remind him that many fleet vehicles are in fact private vehicles, as people choose to lease their vehicles or access them through a salary sacrifice scheme. Last year, the UK was the largest market in Europe—in fact, in the world—for EV vehicles. [ Official Report , 24 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 10WC.] (Correction) He is talking nonsense.”
“I wonder whether the shadow Minister has actually met any vehicle manufacturers. If he had, he would know that they are investing incredibly heavily in the switch to battery electric vehicles. I and my ministerial colleagues have met manufacturers representing 95% of the UK car market to understand their concerns, and we will be working with them to ensure we support all UK vehicle manufacturers, who have—as they would put it—bet the house on the transition to electric vehicles.”
“The Department recognises the critical importance of the east coast main line and has invested £4 billion in a combination of infrastructure enhancements and rolling stock upgrades that will help to deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements. The full benefit of this investment will be felt with the introduction of a revised timetable in December 2025. The Department continues to work closely with Network Rail to explore opportunities to improve performance and resilience.”
“The east coast digital programme is delivering digital signalling on 100 miles of the east coast main line. The technology will deliver an inherent improvement to service reliability and uplift performance and capacity across the line, including for my hon. Friend’s constituents. The first trains are forecast to start running under digital signalling from early 2026. The number of services running under digital signalling will increase until the full programme is expected to be complete in the early 2030s.”
“The Government recognise the importance of high quality transport infrastructure as part of a well-functioning, integrated transport network. We are supporting all local authorities to improve transport infrastructure, including through our £1.6 billion investment in local roads. I know that my hon. Friend’s roads are littered with potholes, which is why they are getting a share of our 50% uplift.”
“My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for the needs of his rural constituents. The central mission of this Government is to support economic growth, and this is one of a number of road investments under consideration. In the past week, we have approved upgrades to four major road projects across England. On the specific scheme, I hope to be able to say more in the coming weeks, and perhaps I will be visiting his constituency.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for that question. Improving accessibility in our railways stations is incredibly important. I am sure that the Rail Minister will be happy to write to her on the specifics of her station and to consider the proposals that have been made.”
“The last Labour Government halved the number of people killed on our roads each year. Under the Conservatives that progress stalled, with only a 12% reduction between 2010 and 2023, when almost 30,000 people were killed or seriously injured on our roads. That is about one casualty every 18 minutes. That shocking statistic is why improving road safety is one of my key priorities. We are developing our road safety strategy, the first in a decade, and will set out more details in due course.”
“I commend my hon. Friend for her support for safer roads. National Highways has undertaken several safety studies on sections of the A34. I am aware that improvement works took place on the East Ilsley slip in 2019, including work to widen, resurface and add new road markings. It continues to review concerns about safety on the road and is happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the issue further and plan a site visit. I will, of course, keep up to date with progress.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that question. It does sound like it is a matter for his local council, but I am sure that my officials would be very happy to work with it to provide any advice and support it may need to work out how to provide a safer service in that area.”
“As my hon. Friend knows, delivering a transport system that meets local, regional and national needs will play a vital role in delivering the missions of this Government. I encourage him to continue to work with Derbyshire county council, which will hopefully be under new leadership in May, and with our excellent East Midlands Mayor, Claire Ward, to advocate for his constituents’ priorities. I would, of course, be happy to meet him to discuss this.”
“This Government stand with local road users who are frustrated by roadworks that cause unnecessary disruption. While councils and utility companies should always work together to minimise the impact of their works, we are also taking action: we are doubling fixed penalty notices for utility companies that do not comply with certain requirements for carrying out their street works, and we have extended overrun charges of up to £10,000 per day to weekends and bank holidays, to prevent overrunning roadworks.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The state of our roads is a daily reminder of Tory failure, which is why this Government have provided record funding to fix them. Derbyshire is getting its share of the extra £20 million going to the East Midlands combined authority. We expect the council to get on with the job and to tell local residents how it intends to use the extra taxpayers’ money that it is getting.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise these concerns on behalf of learner drivers. On 18 December, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency set out a seven-point plan that recognises the need to fix the driving test booking system, so that we can get new drivers on the road. I will hold it to account for delivery of that plan and the changes that my hon. Friend and his constituents need to see.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise concerns about disabled access at his local station. We want to ensure that everyone can access our public transport networks, and I would be happy to ensure that I or one of my colleagues met him.”