Part of Transport – in the House of Commons at on 10 October 2024.
Clive Jones
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Trade)
Barriers to active travel are many, including old footbridges that are needed for crossing railways. In my Constituency of Wokingham, Network Rail is in the process of replacing the footbridge at the Tan House crossing. Despite an offer from the local authority to contribute towards the cost of making the bridge accessible to all, Network Rail has insisted on spending millions of pounds to build a bridge that many people will never be able to use. Can the Minister review with Network Rail why it believes that it is not required to make its estate accessible to all, and take steps to ensure that it is required to do so in future?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
