debates/debates2025-01-09b conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: debates/debates2025-01-09b conversation_6

Sarah Owen:What steps she is taking to help improve the accessibility of public transport. \p Simon Lightwood: We are working with industry to deliver a transport network that puts passengers and their needs at its heart. The new aviation accessibility task and finish group, for example, brings together industry and consumer advocates with first-hand experience to improve accessibility in air travel. The Government will take advantage of the benefits of a unified rail network to deliver a more reliable and consistent customer experience for everyone with accessibility needs, and our buses Bill will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive, including by extending the requirements for relevant bus staff to undertake disability training. \p Sarah Owen: I thank the Minister for his response. Leagrave station in Luton was one of a number granted Access for All funding by the previous Government for long-overdue lifts. However, Network Rail now says that this money was never allocated and that it only qualifies for a business case, despite a feasibility study already being agreed and completed. Those who can make the nearly 2 million journeys from Leagrave station, including myself, are left with a crumbling footbridge that is not accessible for many. Will the Minister offer assurances that Access for All funding to Leagrave station will be honoured, and will he meet me and the Bedfordshire Rail Access Network to establish the quickest path to having lifts at Leagrave station? \p Simon Lightwood: My hon. Friend is a formidable advocate for this, having raised it numerous times. The Rail Minister is carefully considering the decisions made by the previous Government in relation to the Access for All programme. My hon. Friend will be aware that Leagrave was one of 50 stations across Britain selected by the previous Government for further consideration of whether they could be made step-free between the entrance and all platforms. We will shortly update the House on our approach to Access for All, but let me assure her that we are committed to improving the accessibility of the rail network, recognising the social and economic benefits that that brings. \p Paul Holmes: Like the hon. Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen), I have stations in my constituency—in Hedge End and Swanwick—that were allocated money by the previous Government for accessibility lifts. Unlike her rail company, mine did accept that that money was allocated. Within the first week of this Government taking over, that was scrapped, and the Rail Minister wrote to me without any clear plan for when this Government will make an announcement on what will happen with the Access for All scheme. The Minister has just said that it will happen shortly. Can he be more clear for my constituents, who have been waiting for a very long time, so that disabled people and people with wheelchairs and pushchairs in  my constituency can make the journeys they need to make? When will this Government make an announcement on Access for All? \p Simon Lightwood: I can assure the hon. Member that as soon as I am in a position to do so, I will give him more information on the Access for All programme. \p Rachel Taylor: Two of my friends, Ruth and Janet, are wheelchair users—one of them as a result of an accident just outside this place 25 years ago. They cannot travel together on our buses, as there is only ever one wheelchair space. They often book assistance at train stations, only for it not to turn up, leaving them stranded. Their handling on planes has led to not only bruising and pain, but loss of dignity and sometimes missed flights when assistance does not come in time. They are now reluctant to go on holiday if it means flying. Will the Secretary of State meet them and set up consultations with disabled passengers up and down the country, so that our public transport can meet their needs in every region? Will she require local authorities taking over bus services to consult disabled passengers and set minimum standards for delivery? \p Simon Lightwood: We want a transport system for everyone, in which accessibility is designed as standard across the network so that we can make it easier for people to get on and off services, and build a safe and more secure network, particularly for women and girls. It is the Government’s ambition for disabled people to have equal access to transport, recognising the needs of people with visible and less visible conditions, and I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend. \p Wendy Chamberlain: Leuchars train station in my constituency serves St Andrews and is well used by residents, students and tourists, but its wheelchair access is completely unacceptable. It feels as though we fall through the gaps between the Scottish Government and the UK Government on Access for All. Can the Minister confirm whether the Access for All review is looking at ensuring that those in the devolved nations do not miss out? \p Simon Lightwood: I can assure the hon. Lady that I will raise this issue with the Rail Minister. I am quite confident that he has had these discussions with the devolved Governments.