Andrew Dismore

Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member and parliamentary candidate for Hendon today expressed his anger at the failure of Hendon’s Conservative MP to deliver on his campaign for step free access at Mill Hill Broadway.

Mr Dismore said:

“Hendon’s Conservative MP talks the talk but does not walk the walk.  OnTuesday this week,  the Transport Minster announced to Parliament the full list of the 42 Network Rail stations that are to benefit from step free access under the “Access to All” programme from 2015 to 2019. Mill Hill Broadway is not on the list. (see Hansard record of Parliamentary statement below).

“Hendon’s MP boasts that he is Chair of the All Party Group for Thameslink. What is the point of him doing this job if he fails to deliver on this issue  but only claims credit for the programme and investment that the previous  Labour Government  had begun in modernising the line?

“Moreover, I was very surprised  to hear him speak at last night’s meeting of the Mill Hill Residents’ Association about his campaign for step free access as though  nothing  had happened and it was going swimmingly. He may want to continue with his petition about this which is a bit of a waste of time now, but surely he should have told those present at the meeting  about the Ministerial announcement  the day before. Either did not know about  it , in which case he is falling down on the job as Hendon’s MP and Chair of the APPG Thameslink Group; or he did know,  in which case he was being disingenuous with the residents who were there, by not telling them. It was a good job I was there to put the record straight afterwards.

“The fact is this sort of campaign is not won by a petition, which is the easiest thing to do: this may attract publicity for him but does not deliver the results. these campaigns are won by hard work and  detailed research into the criteria that have to be satisfied to get the station into the programme, leading to a fully worked submission with all the facts and statistics  to back it up. Hendon’s MP has failed to produce such a bid. No doubt it was too much effort for him to do so. He has failed in his campaign as a result.

“The rail industry selects those stations to be included not by who shouts loudest or produces the biggest petition but  by rigorous set down criteria, including passenger numbers, the needs of the local area, and proximity to facilities such as hospitals or schools for disabled children.

“Hendon needs and deserves an MP who will put the time and effort into presenting the case for such campaigns properly, not just sound of about them.”

 Hansard extract:

29 Apr 2014 : Column 47WS

Transport

Access for All (Funding)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond): Improving access to Great Britain’s railway stations is a key priority for this Government and so, despite the deficit, we have confirmed that the Access for All programme will continue. The existing programme will deliver an accessible, step-free route at more than 150 key stations by March 2015 and has already delivered smaller scale accessibility improvements at more than 1,100 stations through the small schemes fund.

I am therefore pleased to announce the stations which will benefit from the additional £100 million we have made available to extend the Access for All programme from 2015 until 2019. The selected stations will, subject to a feasible design being possible, receive an accessible route into the station and to and between each platform.

The stations due to benefit are:

Alfreton

Barry Town

Barnes

Battersea Park

Blackhorse Road

Blairhill

Cathays

Chatham

Cheltenham Spa

Elgin

Garforth

Godalming

Grays

Hamilton Central

Hebden Bridge

Hither Green

Kidsgrove

Leyland

Lichfield Trent Valley

Liverpool Central

Llanelli

Luton

Manningtree

Market Harborough

Northallerton

Peckham Rye

Penrith (North Lakes)

Petts Wood

Queen’s Park

Seven Sisters

Southend East

St Mary Cray

Streatham

Theale

Tottenham Hale

Trefforest

Virginia Water

Walton-on-Thames

Warwick

West Hampstead

Weston-super-Mare

Whitton

29 Apr 2014 : Column 48WS

All work at the stations is due to be completed by the end of rail control period 5 in 2019. These measures will make a real difference to people’s lives, not only opening up access to leisure and employment for disabled rail passengers but making it easier for those with heavy luggage or children in buggies to use the network.