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Mr. Nick Brown: As the hon. Gentleman knows, I have written to every local authority in England about those matters, in respect of pigs and pork products and, separately, in respect of beef. The Agriculture Ministers in the territorial Departments are writing in similar fashion. It is not right to say that the legislation requires local authorities always to purchase the cheapest. Best value is about more than just price.
Mr. Heath: I am grateful to the Minister for highlighting what I know he has already done. However, there is a basic difficulty. Best value is not simply a matter of price, but it requires a set of specifications to be issued
in advance to which many contracts are linked. It requires authorities to work constantly through a third party over which it has no direct control. There are distinct obstacles to local authorities taking decisions in the interests of their community and local producers. His exhortation is welcome and helpful, but there is still a legislative problem.
Dr. Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test): Does the hon. Gentleman know that the forthcoming local government legislation proposes to give local authorities a power of economic, social and environmental competence for their areas? If that is added to best value, many of his points about local authority action may no longer be an issue.
Mr. Heath: I am happy to recognise that point, but I will be even happier when it has been tested in court that the general competence to act is matched by a competence within a specific spending bracket that allows local authorities to do as they would wish. I suspect that there is still a problem in that local authorities will be open to challenge under the competitiveness clauses of previous legislation. Unless there is amendment to that in the Bill, as I hope that there will be, there will still be a problem. Perhaps if there is no such amendment, we should try to insert one.
I would have liked changes to the corporate structure to encourage the development of co-operatives and vertical integration in industries of the sort that, tragically, we did not see with Milk Marque, as a result of the intervention of the Department of Trade and Industry. Such changes would help to ensure a more constructive attitude to making rural businesses work, and work better.
Mrs. Helen Brinton (Peterborough):
I am grateful to be able to speak in this fascinating and important debate. I believe that in the Queen's Speech we saw, for the first time, a Government saying three cheers for the environment. We should definitely value that.
I particularly welcome two announcements in the Queen's Speech. First, there is the long but eagerly awaited transport Bill, which I hope will include everything that was in the excellent White Paper last summer. I must mention the extremely welcome inclusion of pilots for home zones, which were the subject of my first ten-minute Bill. The Department headed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has proved most accommodating about that small package of measures, which were approved by Members of all parties,
apart from the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood). He tried to rubbish them by saying that they concerned only kicking balls through windows and damaging the dahlias. That shows why he sits on the Opposition Benches while the Deputy Prime Minister sits on the Government side.
Those measures were designed to reverse priority from the motor car to the pedestrian in designated areas, with all sorts of beneficial knock-on effects for residents and the community as a whole. That is not surprising when one considers the larger picture on which the Deputy Prime Minister's Department has been working. It is no less than an attempt to reverse the damage done to our communities by the huge growth in road transport and the decimation of our public transport under far too many years of Conservative Government.
The Conservatives still prefer to be seen as the friend of that mythical beast, the motorist, as my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, East (Jane Griffiths) eloquently pointed out. They talk as if this creature, the so-called motorist, was not also a responsible member of society--perhaps a parent, at times a pedestrian or even a Member of Parliament.
I did not know whether to be amazed, saddened or amused by the suggestion of the right hon. Member for Wokingham earlier this year that traffic speeds should be increased rather than decreased. How out of touch with popular opinion can he be? The common sense revolution? I think not. That is of course why he is in opposition while the Deputy Prime Minister is in government.
Many pioneering measures have already been taken by local councils, so much so that pedestrianised town centres seem to be becoming to be accepted as the sensible norm. Slower speeds in residential areas have already increased pedestrian safety. I am delighted that the new Bill will include measures radically to reduce road congestion and pollution, and will underpin a truly integrated transport strategy which will benefit both town and country residents.
My second great welcome is for the proposed countryside amenities and conservation Bill which the Minister for the Environment, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher), did so much to advance. The subject of new Government action to protect our best wildlife sites has been debated many times in both Houses and received unprecedented support from Members of all parties since it was first raised so well by my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Lepper) last November in his excellent early-day motion. That shows that EDMs can and do work.
We do not know all the details at present, but the Bill's aims are clear: to increase protection for our wildlife, particularly that in sites of special scientific interest, and to provide greater public access to the countryside, particularly on foot. There are to be measures to prevent damage, increased penalties for those who cause it, and increased agency powers to prosecute for wildlife species offences. As with all major Bills, the devil may well be in the detail. There will be lengthy debate, in which I hope to participate both in the House and in Committee.
At this point I wish to flag up one concern and that is that there should be sufficient resources to underpin these new measures and, in particular, positive environmental
management. Yes, there is a need for tougher penalties and enforcement powers, but that is only for the minority of offenders. We all know that the majority of damage is caused either by neglect by landowners who will not or, more often, cannot maintain their sites, or by modern agribusiness practices which are supported and, indeed, favoured, by current subsidies. It will be no surprise to the House to hear that I am talking about the pernicious common agricultural policy which benefits a small minority of our richer farmers in the south and east.
Many farmers are desperately eager to adopt more environmentally friendly farming methods. The demand for organic food, as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my right hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend (Mr. Brown), knows, has grown enormously but, scandalously, 70 per cent. of United Kingdom consumption must be imported. Many farmers are eager to subscribe to environmentally friendly support packages, such as countryside stewardship--I think that is what it is called--but there are simply not enough resources to meet demand.
I understand that shortly there will be a good opportunity to revise the CAP. I hope that the Government will take advantage of it and act to the advantage of our wildlife and of those who are best placed to steward or act as guardians of the sites in a way that is sustainable and is a positive contribution to the local rural economies where such sites are. I am concerned about wildlife protection, but that is because I am concerned about the environment more generally. That means being concerned for those who are best placed to be stewards or guardians of the environment--our farmers.
Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley):
I should like to give a cautious but warm welcome to the aspects of the Queen's Speech for debate today. First, however, I pay tribute to our two new colleagues, my hon. Friends the Members for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan) and for Wigan (Mr. Turner). Their maiden speeches were superb and I thoroughly enjoyed them. It is a bonus that we have an additional two regional accents in this place as they are becoming a rarity.
Earlier in the debate Conservative Members kept dwelling on the subject of the Greater London council and I am not sure why. As I remember it, the GLC was created by the 1970-74 Conservative Government along with the metropolitan county councils, of which one was my own--West Yorkshire. That Government made sure that they brought into those counties the leafier areas around our cities to ensure that at last they could control the areas which contained our major cities. It did not work, so in true democratic style Mrs. Thatcher gave them the chop. They were all brought to a sudden, shuddering end. I am sorry about that as I rather miss our county councils.
I should also like to pick up on comments made by other Members about the farming community. My constituency is a strange mix of town and country. Hundreds of small hill farmers are having an extremely
difficult time. I am well aware of their plight and from time to time I write to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my right hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend (Mr. Brown), and I hope that he can do even more than he already has done to help them.
I should like to dwell largely on the proposed railway Bill. Following the dreadful Ladbroke Grove crash, there has been an amazing change in the public's perception of public ownership. An element of public ownership in Railtrack assets would have wide support. The support would be forthcoming as there is now genuine anxiety throughout the country about conflicts of interest between the duty to shareholders to provide profits and the duty of care to the travelling public to provide an extremely safe method of travel. However, that is not where we are at today. Today, we are proposing a transport Bill which will have as its main objective the establishment of the Strategic Rail Authority which will be part of a national integrated transport system. The SRA, through its regulatory and franchising roles, will, we hope, have the ability, with the help of the railway inspectorate, to provide a safe environment for rail travellers. I understand that the SRA will have duties to promote rail use, plan strategic development of the network and promote integration between different modes of transport, all of which are needed and which are welcome.
One of the recommendations of the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs when it examined the draft railway Bill was that the SRA should be permitted to dispose of property only when it had consulted all interested parties through an established procedure and was satisfied that it no longer had any potential for railway-related development. It should particularly consider whether the land might be used for the development of rail freight or integrated transport facilities, such as car parks or bus stations. The Select Committee also recommended that the SRA should enjoy a first option to buy any land which Railtrack wishes to sell where it believes that the land may be needed for future operational railway purposes. Those are sound recommendations, particularly given the growth in rail use by passengers and freight, and I trust that they will be incorporated into the part of the Bill concerned with establishing the SRA.
I am proud to report to hon. Members that I am now the elected president of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society. I should also declare a minor financial interest, and unlike the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) I am happy to give details without being prompted to do so. I own five £10 shares in the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Company Ltd. It is a non-profit-making company set up to operate legally the light railway.
The Select Committee recommended that, with the exception of lines which are used predominantly as a means of public transport, heritage railways should be excluded from the provisions of the Bill. I trust that that will be so under the transport Bill. In evidence to the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee, the Heritage Railway Association said that its principal concern was to prevent inadvertent inclusion of preserved railways within the scope of general legislation.
Public transport must be cheap, reliable and safe if we are to move people and freight from cars and lorries to buses and passenger and freight trains. If the transport
Bill is to be socially inclusive, it must also enable my constituents, especially those in the two wards of my constituency that are among the most deprived in the country, to travel cheaply and safely, enabling them to visit sports events, sports facilities and relatives in other towns and to take advantage of the wonderful range of museums and art galleries that we in west Yorkshire have in abundance. The elderly and disabled should also be empowered to enjoy those excellent facilities.
In Keighley, we have our Star buses, which kneel, allowing older people and sufferers from arthritis to enter the bus even when weighed down by shopping. In west Yorkshire, our pensioners have various cheap off-peak travel schemes which are not enjoyed by pensioners in north Yorkshire. I should like the transport Bill to extend those advantages to all areas, so that pensioners can enjoy cheap off-peak travel wherever they live in the United Kingdom, regardless of local authority area.
Women, especially those with young children, are another group that was badly let down by the previous Government in their rush to deregulate bus services and privatise the rail network. Women often do not have the use of a car; therefore, decent, affordable public transport can make all the difference in the world to the quality of their life. Specifically for them, safety must extend to rail and bus stations and the surrounding areas.
Improved lighting helps to give confidence. Many of my rail journeys end late at night at Shipley railway station, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Mr. Leslie). When my fellow passengers have been collected by cars, I am frequently left alone to wait for a taxi, or to walk up to the rank in the town centre. Due to the isolated nature of the station and the low level of light, I frequently find that experience daunting; I cannot be alone in that.
A further nettle that must be grasped by the SRA is regulation of the railway operating companies that will compel them, without arguments, to strengthen trains at busy times. Of course, packed trains create high profits. Too often, on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines--both largely in my constituency--Northern Spirit fails to add units when it could plan ahead to take account of commuter rush hours or connections with well used trains from or to London. West Yorkshire passenger transport executive has brought pressure to bear on Northern Spirit to end such practices.
Many of us could give a very long list of moans about things that are going wrong with public transport in our area, but most of us confine our complaints to correspondence with the operating companies, as in our view our role is that not only of a defender of the rights of travellers but as an advocate of public transport, so we try to encourage its use. Commuters will not gladly opt for the rail alternative to their car if they run the riskof sardine-like conditions and cancellations, which exacerbate overcrowding and can mean a late start to the working day or a meeting missed.
On the more controversial issue of the part-privatisation of National Air Traffic Services, we are told that there will be a separation of service provision from safety regulation, which is welcome. My problem is that I regard air traffic control as entirely about safety--it is its reason to be--and I have difficulty in understanding how the
separation can work. However, as always, I am anxious to hear the arguments that will doubtless be made in the debate on the transport Bill.
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