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11.20 pm
The Minister for Transport in London (Ms Glenda Jackson): The hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) spoke at great length about strategy, but if we accept his definition of what constitutes "strategic"--a lack of policies--we can see that he is a member of a comprehensively strategic party. He went on to give the House the most fantastic interpretation of Government policy, but I shall concentrate on the two issues to which he attached enormous importance in the course of weaving his web--talk about smoke and glass!
Let me nail the fallacy that the Government have reduced investment in London Underground. It was the previous Administration who, in the 1996 Budget, made cuts to London Underground funding of £130 million. They proposed, on the basis of their remaining in office, to increase that cut in the 1998-99 Budget to £248 million; and in the 1999-2000 Budget, to increase it yet again, to a total of £378 million. The Labour Government found, in one Budget, an additional £365 million for investment in London Underground, thus ensuring that, over two years, London Underground had £1 billion for investment. The hon. Gentleman appears to be unclear about the purpose of Government investment in the underground, thinking that it is for revenue; in fact, it is, as it has always been, essentially for capital investment.
The hon. Gentleman moved on to the public-private partnership--a phrase he had some difficulty in remembering and saying. There has been no Government
U-turn. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made it abundantly clear this afternoon that we have learnt the appalling lesson of rail privatisation and that we have no intention of going down that track, which caused such a vast waste of public money--millions and millions of pounds. Vast amounts of public money still have to be poured into the privatised rail service, yet the service still fails to meet the high standards that the people of this country expect.
A public-private partnership is on track--I hate to use that phrase. As my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said, he is not offering any opportunities--we are talking about competitive bids. Unlike the previous Government in respect of rail privatisation, we shall not be tied to or driven by a date or timetable that brings in its train an appalling level of service and vast sums of public money having to be poured into our railways.
The hon. Member for North Essex referred to a story in The Sunday Telegraph of 13 December. The suggestion that Railtrack has been chosen as the sole bidder for a project of the sort described is entirely untrue. The Government have no plans whatsoever to privatise the underground. We made it abundantly clear in our manifesto that that was not our way forward. Our way forward is a public-private partnership. If the hon. Gentleman has serious questions to ask--judging by his speech this evening, he has neither serious thoughts nor serious questions--they would be better addressed to the journalists of The Sunday Telegraph who wrote that piece of fantasy.
I share with many of my hon. Friends--I am sure that those who did not say so feel it too--a sense of pride in the fact that the Bill has been delivered to the Floor of the House. It is another example of the Government keeping their promises--and in this instance, they made a promise to Londoners. The official Opposition have made several U-turns on this policy. They heralded it initially as an appalling idea. However, when they saw how popular it was with Londoners, they decided that it was not so appalling after all. Some Conservative Members have claimed tonight that the mayor will have too many powers, while others have claimed that he or she will have too few. Conservative Members are clearly not committed to restoring a democratic voice for London--but that is hardly surprising since the Conservatives took that voice away in the first place.
The right hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mrs. Shephard) spoke at great length about her concerns regarding the assembly's lack of accountability, transparency and powers. She was concerned about a proliferation of bodies and she dubbed Londoners "guinea pigs". Londoners voted overwhelmingly for the proposals that we are debating this evening. It is entirely typical of the Conservatives--who have little respect for Londoners--that, when Londoners get what they have argued and campaigned for, the shadow spokesperson should dub them "guinea pigs".
The right hon. Lady expressed concern about environmental targets. The mayor will have a responsibility in that area, and I direct the right hon. Lady's attention to part IX, clause 242 onwards, of the Bill. She was not the only Member to argue this evening that the mayor should be removed by some means other than the vote of the electorate. My hon. Friend the Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone) and the
hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey(Mr. Hughes) also expressed that view. We believe in the intelligence, perspicacity and political sophistication of the people of London and we believe that they should decide when to remove the mayor.
Several themes surfaced this evening from all sides--
Mr. Simon Hughes:
Will the Minister give way?
Ms Jackson:
I regret that I will not give way as we are rather pressed for time. I think that the hon. Gentleman has had more than his fair share of interventions.
Several themes recurred throughout the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Brent, East referred to tax-varying powers. We have made it abundantly clear that there will be no such powers as far as the London mayor and assembly are concerned. The hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey made exactly the same reference, and I reiterate my previous point.
Taxation was a particular concern to several hon. Members on both sides of the House, so I shall take this opportunity to reassert our position and, I hope, calm the fears of the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait)--who I regret is not in her place. She was particularly concerned about taxation, which she said would inevitably increase. I can well understand her point of view, as the previous Conservative Administration raised taxes 22 times after giving a clear commitment before the general election that they would not do so.
As I have said already this evening, approximately 3p a week will be added to band D council tax. The contribution that Londoners will make towards the cost of the mayor and the assembly is about one fifth of the £20 million a year that we estimate the mayor, the assembly and its staff will cost. Council tax payers will continue to contribute to the cost of policing, fire services and other Londonwide services when the GLA takes over.
There are proposals in the Local Government Bill for reserve powers to limit excessive council tax increases. That was referred to by the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Sir S. Chapman), who reiterated the fear that Londoners would be asked to pay more and more for the GLA. The Local Government Bill will prevent the GLA's precept from increasing unacceptably. That was one of the issues that was raised with what I shall not go so far as to call boring regularity by Conservative Members, and I hope that my remarks will calm their fears.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
The hon. Lady paid tribute to Londoners' perspicacity, wisdom, political sophistication and sagacity, which will allow them to choose a mayor who would not ever be in danger of being recalled. If they are so wise, why cannot they have an authority with powers that they can vary, rather that one that is controlled by the Secretary of State?
Ms Jackson:
They voted overwhelmingly for our proposals for a directly elected mayor and a separately elected assembly. It would be wrong twice to overturn the democratic decision of Londoners, which the hon. Gentleman's proposals would undoubtedly do.
My hon. Friends the Members for Lewisham, Deptford (Ms Ruddock), for Romford (Mrs. Gordon), for Ilford, North (Ms Perham) and for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck) all raised in their individual
ways issues that they and their constituents believe are particularly important--deprivation, unemployment, the environment and crime. They spoke of issues that matter to the people of London and which the authority will be empowered to begin to tackle strategically for the whole of London. The Bill contains powers on the environment, biodiversity and other issues mentioned by--I have to say, in fairness--hon. Members on both sides of the House.
Conservative Members have raised the issue of how much of the revenue raised by congestion charging and the levy on private non-residential parking will be spent by the mayor and the assembly, and the boroughs when they have those powers, on improving transport in London. I repeat, for what must be the fifth time, that every penny raised by those levies will be spent where it is raised to improve transport. The money will be used to implement the mayor's integrated transport strategy. That will be the case outside London when powers for the remainder of the country are introduced.
Sir Sydney Chapman:
I respect and admire the way in which the hon. Lady has made that commitment. Would she be prepared to move an amendment in Committee to remove paragraph 15(5) of schedule 13, which says:
"Any sums received by the Secretary of State under the regulations or a charging scheme shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund"?
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