After the May 2010 election, he was appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state for transport.

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On Thursday, the Secretary of State for transport, Patrick McLoughlin, visited the site to inspect the work.

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Ultimately the decision will be made by the secretary of state for transport.

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The final decision will be made by the secretary of state for transport.

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Earlier this year the board applied to the secretary of state for transport for the authority to introduce private capital.

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Their plans were given a major boost when former Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions Stephen Byers, decided against a public inquiry into the project.

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The council's portfolio holder for planning and transportation, Jane Urquhart, said the rise was fixed by the original order issued by the Secretary of State for Transport and could not be altered.

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His original title was deputy prime minister and first secretary of state for environment, transport and the regions - "the only minister with a job title bigger than his vocabulary", according to Sir Norman Fowler.

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He was a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Employment, the Department of Transport and the Northern Ireland Office between 1984 and 1990 - but has spent most of his Parliamentary career as a backbencher.

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