Government maintains an ongoing dialogue with Inovyn on the issues facing the operation of their salt plant at Runcorn. I have exchanged correspondence with the Hon Member for Runcorn and Helsby on the matter earlier this year.

Government maintains an ongoing dialogue with Inovyn on the issues facing the operation of their salt plant at Runcorn. I have exchanged correspondence with the Hon Member for Runcorn and Helsby on the matter earlier this year.

Government maintains an ongoing dialogue with Inovyn on the issues facing the operation of their salt plant at Runcorn. I have exchanged correspondence with the Hon Member for Runcorn and Helsby on the matter earlier this year.

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Sarah Pochin (Runcorn and Helsby) (Reform):

Will the Minister confirm what oversight the Department has of the central Government grant given to Halton borough council and Merseyflow for the two bridges in Runcorn, bearing in mind that a substantial proportion has gone unspent in recent years? What steps are being taken to ensure that any unspent funds are used transparently?

I am afraid that the hon. Lady will have to write to me and outline which fund precisely she is talking about. I am more than happy to get back to her if she does that.

The Department regularly engages with local highway authorities and their representative bodies, such as the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) and the Local Government Association (LGA) on matters relating to highway maintenance.

The Secretary of State for Transport has not had direct discussions with Halton Borough Council on road maintenance or pothole repairs in Runcorn, or with Cheshire West and Chester Council on road maintenance or pothole repairs in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.

In March, the Prime Minister announced that in order to receive their full share of this year's £500m uplift in highways maintenance funding, local highway authorities have to publish a report on their maintenance plans and demonstrate how they are complying with best practice in highways maintenance. Both councils have published these reports, which can be found on their websites.

We expect developers that signed the developer remediation contract with government to meet their obligation to remediate buildings for which they are responsible as quickly as reasonably practicable.

Taylor Wimpey, the developer of The Decks, has advised us that remedial works are expected to commence shortly, following recent execution of a legal agreement between relevant parties.

The Ministry monitors progress closely. Any developer that fails to comply with its obligations faces significant consequences.

As set out at the Autumn Budget, the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed as part of a new regeneration programme.

Halton Borough Council received an initial £50,000 capacity payment in April 2024.

Following feedback that the previous programme timelines were too short and not conducive to the level of engagement places wished to undertake with their communities, it was confirmed at Budget that we will make available a further £200,000 of capacity funding in the financial year 2025/26. This will support the development of plans in line with a revised prospectus that will be published in due course.

Delivery grant funding will therefore begin in the financial year 2026/27.

This Government is committed to delivering growth in every corner of the country, by empowering communities to find local solutions to national priorities.

The department will set out further details on funding, next steps, and confirmation of the revised timelines for the programme in due course.

The Towns Fund is made up of two major funding programmes that were announced under the previous government: Town Deals and the Future High Streets Fund competition. Places were invited to develop Town Deal proposals in September 2019 and final Town Deal allocations had been confirmed by July 2021. The Future High Streets Fund competition opened for EOI submission in December 2018; all successful bidders had been confirmed by May 2021.

In July 2021, Runcorn was awarded a £23.6 million Town Deal to support eight ambitious projects. My officials continue to work closely with Halton Borough Council to ensure the delivery of these projects are progressing well, on time and to budget. The Towns Deals Programme is due to close in March 2026 with the expectation that all funding recipients will have contractually committed the entirety of their allocation by this date.

Both components of Towns Fund are now fully committed across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England. Funding recipients are well progressed into the delivery of their projects and there is no new funding available.

No decisions have yet been taken on the train services that will operate when HS2 opens. These decisions will be taken nearer the time of delivery, drawing on advice from the West Coast Partnership and Network Rail. These proposals will be subject to public consultation and will cover the high-speed services as well as the recommended use of the capacity that will become available on the West Coast Main Line.

The Department is clear that the high-speed and West Coast services will complement each other to seek to maximise the benefits for passengers across the region.

Generally, Runcorn is served by one Avanti West Coast train per hour to and from London Euston.

Cancellation data by rail period was provided by the operator.

1 = A train ran less than half its planned mileage

0.5 = A train was cancelled but ran more than half its planned mileage

‘All causes’ includes cancellations resulting from infrastructure failure as well as any other external cause such as trespass or other train/freight operator failure. In the same period there were seven instances of services failing to call at Runcorn on route, as these services ran more than half their booked mileage they are counted as part cancellations in the table. None were Avanti West Coast caused.

I visited Rugby National Distribution centre, run by NHS Supply Chain, on 25 March 2020. Rugby was finalised as the location for the visit, as it was better placed than the Runcorn Regional NHS Distribution Centre to accommodate visitors given the significant volumes of personal protective equipment items products being ordered by the National Health Service at that time.

The maximum throughput of waste specified in the permit for Viridor’s Runcorn Energy from Waste site is 850,000 tonnes per year. This was based on the predicted number and length of plant stoppages for inspection, maintenance and repair. In 2017 this routine shut down was shorter than expected, and the Environment Agency authorised a temporary increase of throughput on a trial basis. The total throughput of waste for 2017 was 890,933 tonnes. This increase will not have led to an unacceptable impact on the environment.

Viridor will need to apply for a permit variation in order to permanently increase its annual throughput of waste. Any such permit variation is likely to be subject to public consultation.

There has been no change in fuel composition from that specified in the permit in 2009.

The maximum throughput of waste specified in the permit for Viridor’s Runcorn Energy from Waste site is 850,000 tonnes per year. This was based on the predicted number and length of plant stoppages for inspection, maintenance and repair. In 2017 this routine shut down was shorter than expected, and the Environment Agency authorised a temporary increase of throughput on a trial basis. The total throughput of waste for 2017 was 890,933 tonnes. This increase will not have led to an unacceptable impact on the environment.

Viridor will need to apply for a permit variation in order to permanently increase its annual throughput of waste. Any such permit variation is likely to be subject to public consultation.

There has been no change in fuel composition from that specified in the permit in 2009.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not intend to take any enforcement action as a consequence of Viridor exceeding its permit level for waste disposal at its Runcorn Energy from Waste site. The exceedance was authorised by the EA on a temporary trial basis due to the plant’s routine shut-down period being shorter than usual, and will not have led to an unacceptable impact on the environment. Viridor will need to apply for a permit variation in order to permanently increase its annual throughput of waste. Any such permit variation is likely to be subject to public consultation.

The decision document states:

“Whilst the [Environment] Agency is confident that current monitoring techniques will capture the fine particle fraction (PM2.5) for inclusion in a measurement of total particulate matter, a permit condition has been included that will require a full analysis of particle size distribution in the flue gas, and hence determine the ratio of fine to coarse particles.”

The reason for this statement is that total particulate matter (TPM) includes PM2.5 as well as particulates of other sizes and therefore by monitoring TPM emissions, emissions of PM2.5 will also be captured.

Residents of Halton will already be able to use the bridges for free following previous Government decisions to fund an extension to the original, limited, resident’s discount scheme proposed by Halton Borough Council. Heavy goods vehicles and coaches will pay the same wherever they are geographically based which will ensure a level playing field for businesses across the North West.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) does not maintain a record of the costs incurred by his Department to process individual necessary wayleave applications.