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Private Finance Initiative
4. Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made with PFI projects in his Department.[13348]
Sir George Young: My Department has made excellent progress with the private finance initiative and continues to take the lead: PFI is delivering substantial investment in transport infrastructure of more than £3.7 billion over the next three years.
Mr. Arnold: My right hon. Friend will be aware that, in many ways, north-west Kent is the epicentre of the private finance initiative. Not only do we have the leading hospital PFI at Darenth Park, but we have the channel tunnel rail link. Given both those projects and many others, does my right hon. Friend agree that the PFI presents magnificent opportunities for our transport infrastructure?
Sir George Young: The Government have worked up the private finance initiative and it is successful across the range of Government Departments. My Department has played a significant part in that the bulk of the deals have come from the Department of Transport. My hon. Friend mentioned the channel tunnel rail link and, as he knows, London and Continental Railways was appointed last February. It took over European Passenger Services and intends to achieve its main project financing and flotation by late 1997 or early 1998. The PFI also has applications for the London underground, roads and civil aviation--it has a lot of potential left.
Mr. Gunnell: The Secretary of State will know that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, when speaking to the Leeds chamber of commerce on the last day of January, mentioned the go-ahead for the Leeds supertram. What private sector contributions have been made to that project? Can the Secretary of State give more details of the reality behind the Chancellor's comments? Can he assure the House that there will be a start in obtaining funding for that scheme in advance of the need for fresh parliamentary provision to pursue it?
Sir George Young: I was in Leeds recently and I took the opportunity to talk to representatives of the local authority and others about the Leeds supertram. It is an important project. The difficulty at the moment is that the amount of private sector contribution is not as high as the sponsors would have liked. If we are to make progress
with the scheme, which has potential, it is important to drive up the private sector contribution so that the project becomes more affordable within my Department's baseline. I am conscious of the deadline in the relevant legislation.
Mr. Mans: Bearing in mind the reports over the weekend about the franchising of the west coast main line, can my right hon. Friend say when we may expect a formal announcement, instead of information being leaked out through the press?
Sir George Young: The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising announced on Friday night that a preferred bidder had been identified. I hope that that deal will be finalised in the next few weeks; we will then see whether the benefits of franchising that we have seen in the rest of the country can be extended to that most important line.
Mr. Andrew Smith: If private finance is serving transport so well, will the Secretary of State tell us why he will not bring forward proper public-private partnerships for the London underground to attract investment now, in place of the running farce of his privatisation plans, which would sell public assets cheap and mean no new investment for years?
Sir George Young: The whole House knows the Labour party's policy on privatisation--the Labour party is against it until it happens and then conveniently forgets about it.
On private finance, the hon. Gentleman must know that we are pursuing with London Underground a range of private finance deals--my hon. Friend the Minister for Transport in London rightly reminds us about the Northern line trains on every occasion. The three other major projects are power supplies, an upgraded ticketing system and the communications network--some £500 million of private finance initiative. It is therefore not the case that the Government are not driving that forward with the underground.
Mr. Bill Walker:
My right hon. Friend will be aware of the pleasure felt in Scotland at the announcement of the PFI projects for the air traffic control centres. When is the second centre likely to go ahead?
Sir George Young:
The bids are still being discussed and, following consultation with the airlines, we expect to be in a position to announce the outcome in March.
5. Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from London Transport on the potential consequences of the Government's reduction in funding for London Transport for the financial year 1997-98.[13349]
Mr. Bowis:
There has been no reduction in planned Government funding for London Transport's core business or for the Jubilee line extension for the financial year 1997-98.
Mr. Hughes:
If there is to be no reduction in funding, why is London Transport suddenly making it clear that at
Mr. Bowis:
That, of course, is precisely what it is getting. It is astonishing that all that the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith), who speaks for the Labour party, can do is criticise every time we invite and encourage private sector money to come into the underground system. The hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) ought to know better than to peddle rumours on what may or may not be decided at some future meeting, when he knows perfectly well that, if he starts to talk up the possibility of services being delayed, the people who will be worried are his constituents.
The hon. Gentleman knows that I walked the course of the tunnel to which he is referring on the east London line recently and saw the work that is going on. It is forging ahead, as indeed are the links to, and the Jubilee line extension through, his constituency. He has pleaded for those over the years. Is it not time that he said thank you and stopped whingeing?
Mr. Dykes:
Is not the Minister right in saying that, instead of being criticised and knocked all the time, London Underground management should be strongly praised for their remarkable performance in providing the world's biggest underground network, despite the pressure on finances? Is my hon. Friend aware that the Jubilee line, which goes to my constituency, will have a service every two minutes once the modernisation and the link to docklands are achieved? Is not the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) right to say, however, that ownership is secondary to adequate investment?
Mr. Bowis:
Ownership and investment may go hand in hand. My hon. Friend is right: enormous achievements are in progress for London Underground through investment. The biggest investment is the £2 billion-worth for the Jubilee line, which includes partnership with the private sector--it is the biggest construction project in Europe. He is also right to draw attention to other work, such as the Central line modernisation and the refurbishment of trains; more than half of London's rolling stock is being refurbished and, as we know, the Northern line is not only getting new trains but its structures are being refurbished. A tremendous amount is going on and it is down to the partnership that we have successfully introduced. We are now looking ahead to find out how we can extend that in the future.
6. Mrs. Golding:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many children travelled to school by means other than private car in (a) 1979 and (b) 1995.[13350]
Mr. Bowis:
It is estimated that, on average, about 5.7 million children aged five to 15 travelled to school by means other than private car during the period 1993 to 1995. Figures are not available for 1979.
Mrs. Golding:
I thank the Minister for that reply. Is he aware that Staffordshire county council is being asked to pay an exorbitant 85 per cent. increase on the contract price for the school bus service for the coming year? Bus prices were supposed to fall following deregulation, so will he investigate why that price is rising and whether cartels are being formed by bus companies? We do not want even more children to go to school by car.
Mr. Bowis:
I certainly cannot comment on a particular contract between a local authority and a bus operator. The great advantage of privatisation and deregulation is that there is a greater choice, and if the authority is not satisfied with one company, it can go to another. I hope that the hon. Lady will welcome the measure that I announced this morning: the extension of safety measures for children travelling on minibuses and coaches. From today, seat belts will have to be installed in all such post-1988 vehicles. That is a good step forward on road safety, but we want strongly to encourage children to use public transport and bicycles, and to walk.
Mr. Rathbone:
My hon. Friend may be aware that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited my constituency on Friday and saw, in Southover school, the preparation of posters to encourage walking to school. Will he report to the House on the success of that initiative, which encourages what must be the best way for children to get to school, saving fuel and helping the environment?
Mr. Bowis:
I am not able to give an update on the Southover experiment, but it is one that I hope will be emulated throughout the country. We want routes to be designated by planning authorities, engineers, local education authorities and schools that make it sensible and safe for children to walk to school. It is no good encouraging them to walk if the routes are not safe. The routes must be signed and well lit, and obstacles and places from which people might jump out need to be removed. I formed, and chair, a walking strategy group that is examining carefully ways to encourage more walking and safe walking; that certainly includes walking to school.
Mr. Dafis:
Are not strategies to enable children to go to school by means other than private car encompassed in the provisions of the Road Traffic Reduction Bill? I congratulate the Minister and the Government on allowing the Bill to have a Second Reading, and I anticipate that it will have a fair wind. Would not the best way to ensure that the Bill works be to have targets, including UK-wide targets, for the reduction of road traffic? What are the Government's thoughts on the matter?
Mr. Bowis:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his thanks to the Government for encouraging the progress of that
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