Asked by
The Lord
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement that
Doncaster Sheffield Airport may reopen in 2026, what steps they
are taking to support transport infrastructure across cities in
the north of England.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport ( of Richmond Hill) (Lab)
We are absolutely committed to improving transport infrastructure
across the north of England. The Chancellor announced in the
Autumn Statement on 30 October a range of funding to support
transport, including funding for the development of the West
Yorkshire mass transit, renewal of the Supertram in Sheffield and
the trans-Pennine route upgrade. This includes an uplift to
national city region sustainable transport settlement funding in
2025-26 of £200 million for mayoral combined authorities.
The Lord
I thank the Minister for that Answer. I applaud the progress that
City of Doncaster Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral
Combined Authority have made to reopen Doncaster Sheffield
Airport after its closure in 2022 and I was encouraged by the
Chancellor's reference to Sheffield's excellent Supertram in her
recent Budget Statement, but what steps will the Government take
to promote the fuller, greener integration of regional aviation,
tram, bus and rail networks?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
Primarily, that sort of integration at a mayoral combined
authority level is the job of the mayoral combined authority. The
Government supporting those mayoral combined authorities to have
the right transport plans, which include integration across the
various modes, is absolutely the right thing to do. That is the
reason for the funding and the uplift in the funding.
(Lab)
My Lords, I support the right reverend Prelate the in his Question. I ask
the Department for Transport to give every support to ensure that
the city region, which is the only metropolitan urban area in the
country not to have an airport, has the benefits of the
productivity and growth that flow from it. Perhaps the Minister
could also encourage the developers not to call it “Robin Hood
Airport”, which it was previously, on the grounds that when
people got off, the arrows that they saw seemed to lead them to
the Friar Tuck cafeteria and the Maid Marian facilities.
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I am amazed to think that the name of a cafeteria in a regional
airport might be something to do with the department. More
seriously, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Board,
which is chaired by the mayor, will make a decision later this
month on providing City of Doncaster Council with £3 million as
part of Doncaster's existing £138 million gain share from the
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority allocation. That is
the Government supporting the reinstatement of this airport. We
will do everything possible to help the airport get back into
business and contribute to the economic growth of the region.
(LD)
My Lords, TransPennine Express is
owned by the Government, and Network Rail is owned by the
Government. After three years, businesses and individuals are fed
up with excuses and meaningless explanations, so when will the
direct train service between Sheffield and its major
international airport, Manchester, be reinstated?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The direct service was curtailed as part of a very complex and
necessary scheme to restore railway reliability in Manchester.
The department and I know that there is huge aspiration for a
direct connection between Sheffield and Manchester Airport, but
the configuration of the railway in Manchester means it is very
difficult to deliver it. One of the reasons for the region being
keen on Doncaster Airport is to see flights from the region
without necessarily going to Manchester.
of Soho (CB)
My Lords, as president of the British Chambers of Commerce, I
have spent many happy days in Doncaster and can attest to how
delighted local businesses are at the reopening of the airport.
How are the Government thinking of addressing the very
substantial digital infrastructure gaps across the north of
England? Cumbria and Northumberland face some of the most
terrifying black not-spots, which is something we hear from
businesses increasingly. If we are to grow the economy, we need
to grow the digital infrastructure as well.
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I have no doubt that digital infrastructure across the whole of
England is very necessary. I do not have any information on that
to hand, but I will write to the noble Baroness with as much
information as I can muster about it.
(Con)
My Lords, everyone acknowledges that regional airports throughout
the country are struggling. How do the Government think that
putting up air passenger duty is going to help them?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
Air passenger duty has not changed for a considerable length of
time, and my recollection is that the increase is no more than
inflation would have been. In the total cost of air fares, it is
a relatively small amount.
(Lab)
My Lords, following the excellent questions from the right
reverend Prelate and my noble friend , will the Minister join me in
congratulating Mayor Ros Jones on the part that she has played in
the reopening of the airport? Will he support her request to the
department and the Civil Aviation Authority to allow the
necessary airspace once an operator for Doncaster Sheffield
Airport is announced?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I will of course join in the congratulations to the mayor, Ros
Jones. The reopening of the airport is clearly important, locally
and regionally. I am able to say that the department will
support, as much as it can, the reinstatement of the airspace and
the air traffic control needed to make the airport
operational.
(LD)
My Lords, why do the Government not recognise that the links
between the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh require
an upgraded and safe A1, and that effective rail transport to
northern cities from Newcastle depends on investment in the
capacity of the east coast main line?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
When the Government were elected, they were faced with an
unachievable list of infrastructure promises from the previous
Government. Various schemes have not been able to be taken
forward simply because there is not the money to achieve them—of
which the A1 is one.
The east coast main line has had a considerable amount of
investment. The struggle recently, because of the fragmentation
of the railway, has been to achieve a railway timetable to take
advantage of the £4 billion that has been spent on it. I hope
that we have got there, but of course that is one of the reasons
for rail reform: we should not be investing £4 billion in a
railway only to find that we cannot construct a timetable to take
advantage of the investment.
(Con)
My Lords, is not the runway at Sheffield Airport rather short and
suitable for only the smallest aeroplanes?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I am afraid I do not have information about the length of the
runway. I am sure that the proposition to reopen the airport
takes into account its existing configuration, and I am sure that
the public bodies concerned with it are confident that the
airport, whatever length of runway it has, can support the local
economy with the appropriate air services.
of Manor Castle (GP)
My Lords, Manchester Airport is planning for an expansion of 150%
in passenger numbers. Stansted wants to increase from 28 million
passengers to 43 million. Leeds Bradford Airport has been looking
for a 75% increase in passenger numbers. Yet, in July, the
Committee on Climate Change told the Government that they
must:
“Stop airport expansion without a UK-wide capacity-management
framework”.
Is this not just more public money going into what have to be
white elephants in terms of both demand and, crucially, our need
to cut our climate emissions, particularly in terms of the
promise that Sir just made at COP 29?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
In relation to regional airports, there is a pressing demand from
business to improve economic growth in those cities and regions
by better and more convenient connectivity. The extent to which
that means more flights is a separate question, but the support
given to an airport such as Doncaster in order to make business
better and create economic growth in that region is entirely
consistent with the Government's objectives.
(LD)
My Lords, I see that plans for a third runway at Heathrow have
come to the surface again. Does the Minister accept that allowing
that plan to develop and to catch the headlines again will
inevitably undermine the viability and investment opportunities
for airports in the north of England in general?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
My understanding of the recent suggestions about growth at
Heathrow is that they are currently focused not on a third runway
but on an expansion of the airport in order to cope with more
passengers on the existing runways. There is a debate about the
extent to which flights from Heathrow compete with regional
airports, but Heathrow is of course an international hub, so many
of the flights that it might aspire to handle will never go to
regional airports. There are criteria that will have to be
fulfilled for an expansion of Heathrow, but we do not necessarily
see that that will compete with the regional airports such as
Doncaster that we have been discussing today.
