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6.25 pm
Ms Joan Ruddock (Lewisham, Deptford): I crave the indulgence of the House: this may not be another nasal contribution, but it will be a throaty one, because of my bad cold.
I came to London from a small town in south Wales to study at Imperial college--then, as now, one of the world's foremost scientific institutions. The college is situated in south Kensington, within strolling distance of the Serpentine and the great green spaces of Hyde park. I found a great and wonderful soaring city at my feet. I had little money and no thoughts of a car, but I went everywhere. I fell in love with Kew gardens, and went to the Proms, the south bank and the ballet. I even stood through "Gotterdammerung" at Covent Garden--although only once.
It was some years later, when I left academia and went to work for Shelter, that I saw the other side of this great city: the appalling overcrowding of families, and the damp and unfit flats and Rachmanite landlords. The injustice and inequality that I saw then led eventually to my being elected as the Member of Parliament for Lewisham, Deptford--the most deprived part of a borough that is the 14th most deprived district in England. First impressions bear out those statistics. There is neglected social fabric: poor environment, poor housing and ill health.
However, we also have a vibrant community, with extraordinary ethnic diversity that is expressed in commerce and culture. We have our own great institutions, such as Goldsmiths, Laban and Lewisham colleges; a community theatre at the Albany; Hales, a superb modern art gallery on Deptford high street; and a
variety of artists' studios linked to regeneration initiatives. This is the London we share: a city of great contrasts, marked by extremities of wealth and poverty. It is "a capital divided", as the London Research Centre's study of the same name showed two years ago.
New Labour's manifesto promise to Londoners was to deliver the leadership and infrastructure that would promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the many, not the few. We are today debating the substance of that promise, and I congratulate my right hon. and hon. Friends on bringing it to fruition. I cannot speak comprehensively in the time available, but, like other hon. Members, I shall touch upon a few issues.
The first issue is the mayor. I have no doubt that the mayor's success will lie in the quality of leadership that he or she brings to the job: the ability to inspire confidence and pull together all the key players--or possibly warring factions--who can provide the dynamic leadership and partnerships necessary to deliver strategic policies. There is already considerable consensus about the Government's plans, as witnessed by the many organisations that have written letters of support to London Members of Parliament.
The mayor will also need to listen carefully to ordinary people. The most recent picture of London opinion was provided by a Mori poll on the health of Londoners commissioned by the King's Fund and the Evening Standard. The findings certainly present a challenge. Three out of five Londoners think that our city is an unhealthy place to live, and half think that the situation is getting worse.
When asked in the survey what the London mayor's top priorities should be in solving the problems associated with ill health, nine out of 10 people opted for environmental issues, including traffic reduction and improving air quality. Not surprisingly, other top priorities included work opportunities and life-style issues, such as child care and tackling drugs.
The poll clearly tells us that the quality of the environment and people's health are no longer subjects for expert epidemiologists but matters of common public perception. As with everything else in London, there are enormous inequalities in access to health services. I believe that the mayor's role must be clarified and strengthened in relation to the health of Londoners. I trust that my right hon. Friend will revisit the proposals advanced by the King's Fund--particularly the case for a public health unit to inform the mayor's policy agenda.
I turn now to transport, wherein lie Londoners' greatest hopes and fears. Seven years ago, as shadow Minister for Transport in a team headed by my right hon. Friend, I wrote our first transport strategy for London. It has stood the test of time. We said then:
We know from survey after survey that women are especially concerned about their personal security on public transport. Even as someone who is not afraid to travel on public transport in London at night, I recognise the intimidating environment that is presented by deserted, poorly lit stations, tube trains ankle-deep in rubbish, and frequent, unchallenged anti-social behaviour by other passengers.
There has to be a case for more staff outside rush hours, and more attention to passenger comfort and convenience. A strategic view demands proper integration of all modes and ticketing policies that assist and encourage people to travel on public transport, rather than defeating them at every turn. One has only to consider what has happened at Paddington since the setting up of the non-integrated Heathrow express and the chaos created as people leave that train to get tickets to other destinations. Today, it is nobody's job to deal with such problems; tomorrow, it will be the mayor's job.
The need to discourage car use and expand public transport capacity is now a matter of consensus among opinion formers, but if we are not to disable the mayor from the outset, we must ensure that a central strategy can work. There has to be money to expand capacity ahead of punitive measures. Buses are, of course, the quickest answer. A strategic network with draconian powers for policing bus lanes and green, clean, low-floor buses will go a long way to creating alternatives to the private car. I make a plea for better standards of driving of those important London buses.
No mayor worthy of the job will countenance any of the moneys raised from congestion charging--which, of course, we all support--going to anything but public transport. I am grateful for the guarantees that Ministers have given Londoners today.
Mobility is central to London's economy, and it is appropriate that the mayor should establish the new bodies and appoint the members of the new transport authority for London and the London development agency. The task of the mayor and the assembly will be informed by the recently published comprehensive blueprint for economic regeneration, "The London Study", which was led by the Association ofLondon Government, and the first report of the London Development Partnership. Those studies embrace the realities of modern city living, counting the economic, social and environmental costs of urban growth. They argue that the key to solving the problems identified lies in adopting a model of sustainable development.
In that model, three policy areas--economy, environment and equity--are given equal and overlapping status. Many of us have argued for that for a very long time. We all know of the tensions that exist between economic development, social cohesion and environmental protection, and nowhere more so than in London. The mayor's greatest challenge will be to lead and foster the negotiated partnerships through which strategic success can be delivered.
Londoners have fallen behind in the modern labour market, which is often not recognised in the House. As the London Development Partnership report points out,
unemployment here is second only to that in Merseyside, and considerably above the rate for Wales, for Scotland and for the UK as a whole. Almost half the country's ethnic minority communities live in London, and suffer disproportionately from unemployment. That is a huge challenge, and an opportunity.
London must get its fair share of the spending rounds and regeneration funding. Our small businesses need better support, not only for start-ups but through the continuing commercial life cycle.
The community and voluntary sectors also need better recognition of their enormous contribution, and the way in which they are rapidly adding to our sum of economic regeneration. Of course, our economy is rooted in the service industries and tourism, which offer the mayor a potentially huge--and probably very enjoyable--role as an ambassador for London.
Surely, if we are to promote the delights of our great cultural centre, the time has come to follow the examples of our competitor cities in other parts of Europe and pedestrianise our central areas.
As well as direct and indirect powers, the mayor will have the opportunity to produce strategies on biodiversity, waste, air quality, noise and culture. Although a number of bodies, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the London Wildlife Trust, welcome the Bill, they have expressed concerns that I share and seek to raise today. The mayor's strategy will set an important precedent for the statutory basis of local biodiversity plans, but it will be important for the mayor to be able to take action to help to deliver the measures agreed in the plans.
Excellent work is already under way in a partnership of environmental bodies working in London on biodiversity. The London Wildlife Trust, of which I am pleased to be a member, has set up the first biological database, which will inform the process. It is now widely recognised that biodiversity is the best indicator of our natural environment, and its incorporation into strategic planning in London is crucial.
I want to touch on the important extension of democracy that the Bill represents. As my hon. Friends have said, for far too long, London's services have been run in an unaccountable way. The new strategic bodies--the London transport authority, the London development agency, the metropolitan police authority and the fire and emergency planning authority--will counter that lack of democracy.
Like most other commentators, I warmly welcome the new openness and accountability in the proposals for mayoral reports, the debate on the state of London and people's question time. The only discordant note that I have received came from the London Voluntary Service Council. It is not opposed to those measures--quite the contrary--but it wants the voluntary sector to be more closely involved and consulted. I am sure that it is right--the sector's contribution to London life is extremely important, and I hope that Ministers will return to that issue, and consult further on it. I thought that the proposal for a civic forum, which was flagged up in the White Paper, was excellent.
On a completely unrelated point, will the Minister reassure us that the new London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority will be able effectively to co-ordinate with the London ambulance service, which remains outside its remit?
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said at the start of the debate, policing will be dealt with tomorrow. Suffice it to say that crime remains at the top of most Londoners' agenda. Thankfully, crime is falling, and is being substantially addressed by the Government's national plans for partnerships to reduce crime and ensure local safety.
Intelligence-based policing and local partnerships are clearly the way forward, but in London, as others have warned, the greatest challenge lies in restoring and retaining public confidence in the police. Without it, no strategy can move forward at the rate we need. London's population is now one quarter non-white and, as the Stephen Lawrence inquiry has shown, Londoners of good will, black and white, want racism in the Met stamped out once and for all.
"We will link land use and transport planning to provide greater access at lower environmental costs. We will set higher standards for every aspect of public transport and maximise the integration of different modes to make easier, more pleasant and reliable travel. We aim to create greater fairness in that the needs of women and those with disabilities are better met."
The mayor and assembly of London must rise to that challenge. Nationally, the Government have already laid down a template in the integrated transport strategy White Paper, and every Londoner could suggest changes that
would make a difference. Often, the decision to run a car in London is based not on the need to commute to work but on the need to travel to leisure and other public services and facilities.
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