Queen’s Speech

Baroness Blake of Leeds Excerpts

Wednesday 11th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-president of the LGA and add that I am also very much looking forward to the maiden speech of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Guildford.

This Government were elected on a promise to level up Britain. However, on the basis of this gracious Speech they will continue to fall short of the ambition needed to deliver for our towns, cities and villages across the country. People across the United Kingdom, wherever they live, deserve new opportunities, the power to determine the future of their own area, and local services which grow and thrive. That can be delivered only with a transformative and transparent new economic settlement, not just more tinkering around the edges.

Transport is absolutely central to this. However, under this Government, people are being priced out of driving, public transport and even active travel. This is a tired and indecisive Government who have run out of ideas and are producing endless reports instead of getting on with delivering real change. While I am glad the Government have now finally announced a transport Bill, the reports so far suggest that it will fall short of the reforms we need to ensure that our transport networks across all modes of transport work for the people and communities which rely on them.

The silence on buses is deeply troubling for those many thousands of people and their communities which rely on bus services as their lifeline to access work, training, healthcare and loved ones. I hope the Minister can confirm whether the transport Bill will include any provisions on the reform of bus services, including further devolution of powers to ensure that bus networks work for the people who rely on them. I also ask the Minister for an update on the work analysing the long-term impact of Covid-19 on all our services.

On the issue of railways, I look forward to line-by-line scrutiny of the long-awaited proposals for the new Great British Railways body, particularly on how proposals will put the passenger back at the heart of decision-making and service delivery. I am afraid that none of the proposals can make up for the broken promises on building new railways. Ministers are scrapping not only plans for a new line between Manchester and Leeds via Bradford, but also the HS2 eastern leg. We remain committed to delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 East in full. The Government are now offering people in our regions watered-down half-baked plans and the absolute bare minimum.

This brings me to the HS2 Bill in the Queen’s Speech to enable the building of the section between Crewe and Manchester. While we fully support this, it is shameful that the Government are not also able to legislate for the eastern leg. None the less, we will seek to ensure that the legislation includes provisions for the consultation and engagement of local residents along the new line, as well as exploring options to encourage Ministers to revive the eastern leg. Can the Minister give detailed analysis of the impact that the delay to the eastern leg is having on, for example, value for money, project spend and the procurement process, with particular reference to the potentially lost opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs, including highly skilled jobs, all along the routes, as well as crucial support for local industry? Please can we also have an answer on when the Leeds plan will be available? This is urgent, and it will be vital for regeneration schemes right across Yorkshire.

I return to the transport Bill. The provisions to allow more electric vehicle charging points are welcome, but the Government will need far more ambition if they are to help to transition the country to cleaner driving, delivering on our climate commitments and cleaner air quality. That is why Labour has recently begun to set out how our government would work in partnership with business, trade unions and other stakeholders on a long-term industrial strategy, with our plans to make the UK a leader in electric vehicle manufacturing.

The Bill should also be used to better regulate new forms of transport. Although I am pleased that it will include clauses on pedicabs, there should also be provisions on e-scooters. The Minister will recall that several Members of this House have previously raised safety concerns over their use and, although we can all see that e-scooters can play a valuable role in the future of short-distance travel, too many of them on the streets of the UK are unnecessarily dangerous in their current form. Safety should be paramount, as the Minister stated.

Turning to other transport legislation in the gracious Speech, I look forward to the harbours (seafarers’ remuneration) Bill. In the aftermath of the P&O scandal, the Government must close the loopholes that have meant that seafarers have been mistreated at UK harbours. But I hope that, in the development of this legislation, the Minister can confirm that the Government will work with trade unions to ensure that the concerns of seafarers are addressed at every stage of the process.

Needless to say, we will also seek to amend broader legislation regarding levelling up and housing Bills with reference to communities—not least the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. I am pleased that my noble friend Lady Hayman will pick up some aspects of that later in the debate. At first glance, the 388 pages of the Bill lack any substance or ambition, and the review of their 12 missions amounts to little more than the Government marking their own homework. We need detailed evidence that, through more devolved powers, local communities, led by their local authorities, can do the necessary work to link skills, housing, employment and transport needs, for example, to realise their ambition. Will we finally see reforms to the shameful competitive bidding process that has disadvantaged so many communities in real need of investment? I am afraid that the approach to levelling up that we are seeing still lacks new money and new ideas.

On housing, the social housing regulation Bill will be a welcome contribution to making homes safer and more secure, but should be coupled with ensuring that tenants are really heard and listened to and that they finally have effective means of redress. Meanwhile, the renters reform Bill will be very welcome, but, following delay after delay, and now talk of another White Paper, I hope that the Government will make sure that the ban on no-fault evictions is brought forward swiftly.

Half way through this Parliament, the Government are still failing to match the ambitions that people have for their communities. The gracious Speech should have been a chance to change that, but instead there is yet more rearranging of the deckchairs. I look forward to Ministers bringing forward the Bills referred to in the Queen’s Speech, and I equally look forward to working with the House to amend them and, therefore, improve them substantially.