| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
The main elements in the package I have in mind are, first, strangely, to make friends with the motorist. I am not talking about a 20 or 30 per cent expansion in car parking at stations, but a 200 or 300 per cent expansion. My “Make Friends with the Motorist” campaign means that one can do that fairly easily at most stations by decking over existing car parks. Private capital is available for that and for expanding cycling facilities. In our conurbations and particularly in Wales and the north of England, we run far too many very short trains which in many cases are absolutely stuffed with people. The ROSCOs would finance more rolling stock; longer station platforms could be built and they could be privately financed.
That could be done by designating a new franchising system. Franchises need to be longer. Credits need to be built into the franchising process for achieving targets so that the credits could be cashed in at the next franchising round. I pick out Chiltern Railways as one of the most successful franchises, but it is a 20-year franchise—the only long franchise. It has an enviable reputation for performance and offers the cheapest fares. Its fares from Birmingham to London are much cheaper than Virgin—not just a little cheaper, but several orders cheaper.
The Government should do only what they have to do and they should look to the private sector to build partnerships, which is exactly what the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, said this morning. The current process of franchising has very many faults. First, as I have said, the franchises are too short; and, secondly, they are incredibly bureaucratic. The cost of bidding for a franchise, and failing to win it, is very high. They shut out enterprise. They are so short that people cannot develop schemes to invest in long-term assets, like new car-parks which will last virtually for ever, rolling stock which will last 30 years, or new track which—in many cases—will last 40 or 50 years. Yet we confine the franchise to eight years. Of course, they give far too much power to those in Whitehall who draw up the franchises.
16 Nov 2006 : Column 57
On freight, there is plenty of private money to buy the trains to carry the containers but, on the Continent, states build the railways to the ports. Here, we seem to be fascinated by the intellectual debate and haggling about it while the job does not get done. While it is not done, more heavy traffic pours on to the roads, with those huge containers that make the life of everybody who uses the road a misery.
My noble friends Lord Mar and Kellie and Lord Glasgow will talk in detail about the new cross-country franchise, which links the whole country and avoids London. It has achieved a 10 per cent growth in traffic this year, something we have waited for through the miseries of the upgrading of the west coast. There are now four short-listed bidders waiting to bid but they will be judged on the base case, which is a poor example of what could be done. It looks for 30 per cent growth in eight years, but there has been 10 per cent growth both this year and last. It is not even going to cater for the growth, and will not cater for expansion.
It is not a time for cutting back. Yet the franchise specification says that we will have fewer trains, less rolling stock—some is being taken away—and fewer stations being served. The 125 mph trains, which currently provide part of the service, will be substituted by some 100 mph trains which are, at best, outer suburban trains. We will subject people to travelling in them for up to four hours. That is not how to attract people.
Over 1,000 stations are currently linked by this franchise. It is proposed that only just over 500 will be linked. No doubt the Government have in their mind that the only way to suppress demand on this service, apart from one or two horrors I shall mention in a minute, is to increase fares.
Instead of the present 10 per cent growth, we have 3 per cent. The franchise will force people to change trains—my noble friends will speak about that—and to use the Birmingham station. That makes three fundamental errors. In the franchise document, a plan shows how the franchise will re-route trains around Birmingham. They go that way now, so why will it make any improvement at all? The systems that the train companies use to book tickets, reserve seats and answer telephone enquiries are all driven by a big national system. The franchise document says that it will encourage companies to make arrangements for changing in places other than Birmingham, but that system has a computer system behind it which cannot be altered by individual franchisees—it will dictate that people will have to change trains at Birmingham. Lastly, at the end of next year, the Birmingham station will be in the throes of a five-year reconstruction project. The whole franchise is badly founded, a recipe for low growth and chaos, and will lead to a huge amount of customer dissatisfaction.
We need more rolling stock. It can be ordered now, but not for long because the Virgin trains have nearly run the course of their manufactured life expectancy. We need a longer franchise because franchisees must pay for the trains, and to know what will happen to
16 Nov 2006 : Column 58
I remind Ministers of the saga of the Great Western franchise. I live on the Great Western, and there was a huge outcry of many thousands of complaints. In the face of that, the Government had to retreat and restore a great number of the services they proposed to cut. Of course, however, they had to go back to the successful franchisee and almost renegotiate the franchise.
I liken the Government’s view on the cross-country franchise to that of a novice gardener who, when a plant has begun to grow—and this one has—pulls it up to see if the roots are healthy. That, I am afraid, is how they are going on. We will not have any new roads for 20 years. There is a phenomenal opportunity for growth here. This ought to be a time for expanding the role railways play and, with ingenuity, this can be achieved without dipping deep into the public purse. We fear that franchisees will be judged not on what they could achieve, but on some basic specification outlined in Whitehall. That is a bad deal for rail users and, more importantly, a bad deal for potential rail users.
In a Written Statement, the Minister said,
“Our aim is to build on the recent success of current operators, meet current and future passenger demand and facilitate increases in capacity”.—[Official Report, 31/10/06; col. WS12.]
Except in that small gap between Bristol and Manchester, the franchise specification for cross-country falls well short of these aims. Quite frankly, the Government should be ashamed of this document.
1.37 pm
Baroness Byford: My Lords, it was a source of regret to me that I was unable to be here yesterday to listen to the gracious Speech. I was chairing the AIC—the agricultural suppliers’ conference—in Peterborough. It was only some time later that I was able to glean the gist of the gracious Speech.
“Strong, secure, stable communities” is becoming a government mantra. If you live in a rural area, particularly if you are a farmer or agricultural worker, you will know that stable is one thing the community is not. Young people are leaving because earnings are comparatively low and house prices are high and rising. Older people are leaving because they have to move from their tied housing once they stop work, and there is nowhere affordable for them to live nearby.
The noble Lord, Lord Rooker, will know of the work of the Addington Fund, offering retirement housing for farmers. I was delighted to see that its project—I think it is in Cornwall rather than Devon—is well on the way, but I ask the Minister whether planning permission for particular projects will be eased. One of the sticking points for many rural housing associations, particularly those building affordable housing, is gaining planning permission. I know that the Minister is aware of that. Local
16 Nov 2006 : Column 59
Rural communities are no longer secure. Organisations like Farmers Mutual are finding that claims for theft, breaking and entering, criminal damage and fly-tipping are on the rise. Government actions in towns and cities have consequences, possibly unforeseen, on the less protected areas of the countryside. Unfortunately, despite the advent of neighbourhood policing, apprehension of the perpetrators does not seem to be a roaring success. Figures given in a Written Answer—Official Report, Commons, 27/7/06, col. 280W—showed that instances of violence against persons in rural areas rose from 37,189 in 1997 to 158,184 in 2004-05. That is a four-fold increase in seven years. Rural dwellers are no longer secure, and they know it.
The Bill on climate change is welcome so long as it sets firm parameters for action that will reduce UK outputs that cause global warming and provide protection in the event of dangerous changes. It is essential that we have year-on-year targets to reduce emissions. Despite a commitment in three manifestos to reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2010, the Government dropped that target this year, almost a decade after it was first made. We expect an independent carbon commission to set and review targets, not merely monitor them, as I understand has been suggested.
These are not just my concerns. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors would like to see stronger action to reduce carbon emissions, particularly from the built environment. Its briefing expressed its concerns about the split between local government policy and finance. I hope the Minister will touch on that in her response. The Association of British Insurers reflects that some 570,000 homes are now at high risk of flood, compared with 220,000 when current flood defence spending levels were set in 2002. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Sheikh on his excellent maiden speech in which he raised this issue. The association believes that government spending on flood defences should increase by 10 per cent a year, but the Government cut the Environment Agency’s flood defence management budget by £15 million this year. That does not bode well for the future.
The gracious Speech is deficient in a couple of items that I and other noble Lords wished to see. There is no marine Bill, which is a great disappointment. Ever since we passed the CROW Act in 2000, we have realised that while greater protection has been given to the land, no such provision has been made for marine protection. Over the past five years, we have constantly called for that to be rectified, and the lack of a marine Bill in this Session is a disappointment. It is a bad omission. The RSPB, the WWF and IFAW have all written to me, and I suspect that they have written to other noble Lords. They are extremely concerned that, despite previous promises, there is no marine Bill in the gracious Speech. Strategic marine spatial planning would give greater certainty about where industry could develop and
16 Nov 2006 : Column 60
I understand that the local government and planning Bill will introduce planning gain supplements to replace Section 106 agreements between developers and local authorities over the provision of infrastructure for new developments. Planning gain supplements should be a key component of the report of the final Barker review of land use planning, which is to be published near the end of this year, and were a significant recommendation in the first Barker review of housing supply. It is critical that the Bill states the details and states whether the funds available for infrastructure development will be collected at regional or national level or whether local authorities will be trusted to collect and invest the development funds themselves, as they do under Section 106 agreements. I seek clarification on that issue.
I bring to the attention of noble Lords the extra costs of delivering services in rural and sparsely populated areas. When I am touring the countryside, I am constantly lobbied by people who tell me the practical difficulties they have in supplying such services. I also raise the question of rural post offices. As the Minister is aware, about three weeks ago, there was an enormous rally here at Westminster and a petition containing more than 4 million signatures was given to the Prime Minister to express people’s concern. The Countryside Alliance and the Daily Telegraph are following how the Government respond about the future of post offices.
Apart from a reference in the Climate Change Bill, which we support, agriculture was not mentioned in the gracious Speech. However, I was grateful that when the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, opened this debate, he recognised the important role of farmers in producing food and renewable energy crops. It was good to hear him restate that it is essential for farmers to have a sustainable and, more importantly, profitable future. He quoted the recent NFU press release that expressed its optimism, which I share, about farm-gate prices. Increased prices are welcome. I should remind noble Lords of my family’s farming interest. The one point that the noble Lord did not enlarge upon was the future of milk production in this country. Prices at the farm gate are at an unacceptable level, which has resulted in many farmers who produced milk going out of business. The Government need to give a little more thought to letting nature take its course because we could very shortly find that we are in an unacceptable position. The Minister also referred to pollution caused by farming methods, but I know he would acknowledge the improvements being made by the farming community through many voluntary initiatives. I hope the Government continue to go down that line.
16 Nov 2006 : Column 61
I was glad that the noble Lord, Lord Bach—who is no longer in his place—participated in this debate. He was formerly the Minister, and I am glad to see that he continues to take an interest in agricultural matters. However, I was disappointed by his comments about my honourable friend Jim Paice. The noble Lord confused our role of holding the Government to account and suggested that we do not think that there is a future in farming. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr Paice was a farmer, and his son is active in the agricultural industry. My family has a farm, and we believe that farming has a future or we would not still be in the farming business. Outside this House, I am known as Mrs UK Agriculture, and I found the noble Lord’s comments slightly unacceptable.
We do not know the details of the Climate Change Bill, but I support its principle, and I hope that agriculture can help the Government to reduce climate change. I look forward to seeing the details of the Bill. I end by congratulating noble Lords who made their maiden speeches in this debate, and I look forward to the maiden speech that we shall be hearing shortly.
1.49 pm
The Earl of Mar and Kellie: My Lords, only a draft Road Transport Bill is mentioned in the gracious Speech:
There is also a Bill about the concessionary bus fares scheme:
I hope the Minister will confirm that the concessionary bus fare scheme is for England only and will clarify how much of the draft Road Transport Bill will apply beyond England. In Scotland, roads and buses are devolved issues but the Road Traffic Act is reserved.
On road congestion reduction measures, I am concerned about how the news media fail to say that any form of road pricing must be balanced by the removal of vehicle excise duty. That would enable people to understand that the rural road user, predominantly on presumably 2p a mile roads, would have a vehicle excise duty licence equivalent break-even point of about 7,000 miles a year. Cancellation of VED is an essential feature of road pricing. But how would that work if different forms of road pricing are implemented by different local authorities in England and possibly elsewhere? That decision will create so many anomalies that I doubt vehicle excise duty will be cancelled; hence road pricing will be additional. In that case the lowest tier of rural roads must be free from road pricing.
Furthermore, forms of electronic surveillance will have to cope with those who disconnect a vehicle’s transponder and leave it at home. I am pleased that this will be a draft Bill as there seems to be more openness to suggestion in draft Bills. A final swipe at road congestion measures calls for some legislative
16 Nov 2006 : Column 62
With regard to the bus pass scheme for England, I am surprised by its restriction to weekday, off-peak services and full services at the weekend, and—I think I heard the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, say—restricted to local services. I hope to hear some clarification about the extent of these English regional bus passes—which at this moment seem to me to be very much less used than the equivalent schemes in Wales and Scotland—both to extent and time of use. The Scottish scheme is up and running, and running well.
At last I can turn to the railway. Railways came to my native Alloa in 1760, and stored water energy came in 1713. I have no difficulty in seeing that the future is in rail and hydro. My noble friend Lord Bradshaw led off on transport and the railway. Railway usage is expanding, which is great, but there is a serious question about capacity and how much expansion can be accommodated both on the network and in the trains. Usage is expected to double in 10 years.
Earlier this month I tabled a Starred Question about the new cross-country franchise and the bottleneck which is evolving at Birmingham New Street station, not to mention the disconnection of west Scotland from the new cross-country franchise. This is a good example of the Department for Transport trying to solve operational problems, which are rightly the task of professional railway officers. The department’s apparent wisdom is that it is a good idea to make almost all the new cross-country franchise passengers change trains at Birmingham New Street—a station that my noble friend has already said is about to start a five-year rebuild. These travellers are disproportionately holiday makers and the frail elderly. Birmingham New Street is not fit for purposes at peak times at present, and I suspect that it will not be at off-peak times after the start of the new cross-country franchise next year.
The issue of conflicting train movements at Birmingham New Street seems to be a product of planning to make less use of the Camp Hill line and by the integration of trains from Stansted. That is the product of Whitehall interference. These train connections do not always have to be done at Birmingham New Street, but, as my noble friend has already said, there is a problem with how the national rail computer—08457 484950—only calculates the shortest journey; hence the concentration on Birmingham New Street to change trains. The software, and, I suspect, the department’s thinking need to be adjusted to come up with easier interchanges at other stations.
16 Nov 2006 : Column 63
We need to adjust the rolling stock to replace the voyagers on the Birmingham and Manchester routes to Glasgow. The plan is to use class 185s on the route. That plan is flawed and it would be better if class 180 Adelante trains were used, which, at least, are intercity stock. The planned use of the 185s on the West Coast Main Line, with their inability to cruise at more than 100 miles an hour, will create congestion. Will the Minister agree that the class 180 Adelantes, with their 125 mph capacity, would improve the new services on the TransPennine Express franchise? Similarly, I hope that the Minister will announce the purchase of further vehicles for the voyagers, expanding them to five and six car sets. The expansion of passenger uptake must not be choked off by lack of capacity in the trains. That could be done by extending the length of the franchise to make it more worth while and to give greater confidence to the ROSCOs.
Rail is the future. The gracious Speech says nothing directly about promoting rail substitution for domestic air services. Therefore, I am disappointed that the Secretary of State for Transport has declined to commission the essential high-speed line north, preferring presumably to spend the money on Crossrail. Three-hour rail services from London to Scotland would be a genuine move towards rail substitution for domestic air services.
My noble friend is completely right that the need for a massive expansion in rail car parks should be enabled today. I conclude with the thought that there is much to do about transport in this new Session. I look forward, as I suspect does everybody else, to the next speaker’s maiden speech.
1.58 pm
Baroness Ford: My Lords, in addressing your Lordships’ House for the first time, perhaps I too may begin by saying how much I have appreciated the generous welcome extended to me by noble Lords on all sides of the House, matched by the courtesy and infinite patience of the Doorkeepers and Attendants and the delightful banqueting staff. I particularly thank my noble friend Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde for her continuing guidance and wise counsel.
In the weeks since my introduction in July, I have tried hard to understand and absorb the particular culture that characterises your Lordships' House and have come to appreciate the high standard of debate that prevails. I hope that I can live up to it—if not today, certainly in the years to come. But of course I feel immediately diminished because, unlike my noble friend Lord Rooker, I am only in possession of an Oyster Card and not yet a Freedom Pass.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |