Draft Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Tuesday 21st November 2023 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Guy Opperman)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. The regulations were laid before the House on 16 October. The Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Anthony Browne), who is responsible for aviation, sends his apologies. He is attending a sustainable aviation conference—please, no jokes about his taking flights. I hope to be an able stand-in.

The purpose of the instrument is to restate, under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, the key principles of retained EU case law relating to regulation No. 261/2004. It will help aviation consumers to receive the same protections and rights to compensation that they currently have when they experience flight disruption. Regulation No. 261/2004, which will become assimilated law at the end of the year, sets out the full rules on compensation and assistance for air passengers in the event of their being denied boarding, flight cancellation or long delay. Without the draft regulations before the Committee today, important principles that protect consumers in the UK would clearly be lost.

The territorial application of the statutory instrument is England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as civil aviation is a reserved matter. The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has considered this instrument and did not report it to the House at its meeting on 25 October. Under article 438, paragraph 3, of the trade and co-operation agreement, the UK and the EU

“shall consult each other on any matter related to”—

aviation—

“consumer protection, including their planned measures”.

The Department for Transport consulted the EU on the provisions of the instrument, and I am pleased to say that the EU had no comments on it.

I hope the Committee understands the need for and the importance of this instrument, and I commend—

[Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)]

The regulations and the explanatory memorandum refer to the tariff payable in compensation. Is that automatically uplifted with inflation, or will further recourse have to be made to Parliament to secure any inflationary increase?

[Guy Opperman]

That is an outstandingly good question, in reply to which I am delighted to say that I propose to get the aviation Minister to write to my right hon. Friend in quite a lot of detail on that point. If he bears with me, however, I might be able to respond to his question in my closing comments.

I commend the instrument to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Guy Opperman]

I shall attempt to answer the hon. Gentlemen’s questions, but I will start with the fact that Hadrian’s Wall and the sea-to-sea route are in part in my constituency, as is “Sycamore gap”—or it was, until someone who we sincerely hope will be caught and sent to prison decided to use a chainsaw to cut it down.

The hon. Gentleman said there was a lack of support for airports during covid. With great respect, I have to push back on that. I have the privilege, with the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell), to represent Newcastle Airport. I know, because we meet regularly, that the airport was given huge amounts of taxpayer support during covid. It would have genuinely struggled without that support from the Treasury, as would many other businesses.

The hon. Gentleman talked about the NATS failure on 28 August. Clearly, that is a matter for an independent investigation, and like him, I await the results.

As for consultation, the consumer policy was consulted on in January 2022 and responded to in June 2023. Industry and consumer groups were engaged with in an ongoing series of workshops. I think a large number of consumer groups were involved, but I will get the aviation Minister to write to the hon. Gentleman giving chapter and verse on that—when one is not the Minister, one is always keen for others to write.

I shall endeavour to answer the question posed by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire. The rates are not uprated with inflation or downrated with deflation; however, the ongoing consultation on regulation No. 261/2004 might consider that matter, and I will ensure that the details are sent to my hon. Friend the aviation Minister.

Question put and agreed to.

Work and Pensions

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Thursday 16th November 2023 Ministerial Corrections

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

16. What steps his Department is taking to support more parents into work. [900017]

[The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)]

There have been transformational changes in childcare, skills, training and support for future employers, as announced at the spring Budget. It is absolutely the case that from April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week from the term after the second birthday, plus there will be the delivery of more support for working parents of children over the age of nine months with 30 free hours of childcare. There is nowhere in the world that compares with our childcare offer on an ongoing basis. We have virtually Scandinavian levels.

[Official Report, 13 November 2023, Vol. 740, c. 371.]

Letter of correction from the then Minister for Employment, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman):

An error has been identified in my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) during Work and Pensions questions. The response should have been:

[The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)]

There have been transformational changes in childcare, skills, training and support for future employers, as announced at the spring Budget. It is absolutely the case that from April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week from the term after the second birthday, plus there will be the delivery of more support for working parents of children over the age of nine months with 30 free hours of childcare. Our childcare offer, on an ongoing basis, is at virtually Scandinavian levels.

Bridges in London: Maintenance Funding

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Guy Opperman)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) on securing this debate. I appreciate and fully understand that Hammersmith bridge is of particular interest to her constituents and to people in the constituencies throughout the south and west of London. I wish to make a few preliminary points, the first of which is that clearly there is a good pre-existing working relationship between the Department for Transport and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Obviously, as the Minister, I have to choose my words relatively carefully because, as the hon. Lady will be aware, the business case for Hammersmith bridge strengthening works has been submitted to both the Department for Transport and Transport for London for review. As she will no doubt appreciate, I can only say so much tonight to avoid prejudicing any ongoing governance procedures and the borough’s future procurement activity. However, I will attempt to address that.

I am uniquely acquainted with the particular bridge. I have cycled across it many times in the past. I used to live in Fulham, back in the distant days when I first became a Member here, so I am well acquainted with it. Clearly, on my first day in the Department for Transport, I am delighted to be answering the Adjournment debate on an issue that I have inherited but which I am delighted to inherit.

It would be a sad day if there were no contribution to the Adjournment debate by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). Like you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I fathomed my brain to try to work out how, on a debate on “Bridges in London: Maintenance and Funding”, a gentleman from Northern Ireland would wangle in a vital part of transport infrastructure that would make all the difference in the world, but he successfully did so without interruption, fear or favour, and I congratulate him on that. I look forward to his pitch, doubtless in writing, to myself, the Northern Ireland Government and various other local authorities for bridge assistance. I have visited his constituency on several occasions and I congratulate him, as always, on his support for this process.

[Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)]

Given the Minister’s comments about the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), I assume he welcomes interventions. I congratulate the hon. Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) on securing this important debate on the financing of roads and bridges in London. I welcome my hon. Friend the Minister to his place, but I hope he is aware that Government funding for roads and bridges in London is normally funnelled and channelled through Transport for London. He might be aware that the Government have already bailed out TfL to the tune of around £6 billion in the last few years, which is a significant sum of money.

I politely urge the Minister, as he gets his feet under his new desk, that he might consider channelling that money directly to the boroughs, in places like Bexley and Bromley, as I think that money would be better spent that way than through Transport for London. Can I be really cheeky and ask him to meet me, when he gets the time, to discuss my campaign to prevent the Mayor of London from tolling the Blackwall tunnel, which is one of the few crossings in south-east London?

[Guy Opperman]

My hon. Friend, who I know very well—I have visited his constituency in a former life—makes very good points. He is a doughty champion for Bexley. He follows in the famous footsteps of James Brokenshire, who we all miss and who was my boss at the Home Office for a long period. I am happy to discuss the issues he raises further. He makes an interesting point about funding going in a particular way. It would be wrong of me to make first-day commitments at the Dispatch Box, but I will take his point away and get officials to look at it with interest, and I am happy to discuss it further.

The hon. Member for Putney set out the history of Hammersmith bridge in some detail. She is right that it is a grade II listed suspension bridge, opened in 1887, and has served generations of Londoners very well for some considerable time. However, there are a few of her points with which I would gently take issue. First, let us go to the basics: the bridge is not owned by the Government; it is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is not the responsibility of the Government. Even if people had listened to quite a lot of the speech, they may not have picked that up.

The responsibility for maintaining the bridge and making decisions on its repair lies with the borough. It is unfortunate that the bridge had to close, first to motor vehicles in 2019 and then to all users in 2020. The reason, as we know, was that the safety of those using the bridge was deemed to be of the utmost priority. The assertion was made that the Government have done nothing. I respectfully invite the hon. Lady to accept that the Government have provided nearly £10 million of funding to support the London borough, to ensure that there is remedial work and assistance on an ongoing basis. I set that out to try to correct the record.

Following the complete closure of the bridge in 2020, the DfT provided £4 million of taxpayers’ money, which enabled a comprehensive investigation into the overall structure and condition of the bridge. Through this investment, world-leading engineers worked to develop a complete picture of the issues that faced the bridge. The works determined the bridge to be in better condition than first feared, leading to the bridge reopening on a temporary and controlled basis to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic. The Department for Transport has worked closely with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and with Transport for London to help facilitate the reopening of the bridge to all users. In that vein, DfT established the Hammersmith bridge taskforce, which was led by the Transport Minister, Baroness Vere, as the hon. Lady outlined. The taskforce was set up in 2019 and has had many, many meetings—well over 15—since, and it was instrumental in providing a forum for interested stakeholders to work together to develop a clear course of action to resolve the immediate safety concerns around the bridge.

I know the hon. Lady has called for a further meeting of the taskforce. I want to try to address that. I assure her that when we are in a position to hold a further taskforce meeting, it will be to discuss issues of significance or change for the project, therefore ensuring that it remains a good use of stakeholders’ time. However, she will be aware that we have been waiting for the business case to be submitted and that is clearly the key part.

The commitment to this project by the DFT has not stopped at the initial £4 million support provided to the authority. In the most recent TfL extraordinary funding and financing settlement of August 2022, we committed to funding up to one third of the costs shared with the borough and TfL of reopening the bridge to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic, and then, depending on costs, to buses and motor vehicles. The first part of this commitment has already been delivered. In March 2022, the Department for Transport approved the business case from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for the stabilisation works on the bridge, which in turn triggered the release of a further £3 million of Government funding. These works will ensure that the bridge remains open to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic permanently, with no risk of further temporary closures due to unsafe conditions. I am pleased to say that those works are due to complete very early in the new year and will provide certainty to the pedestrians and cyclists of Barnes, Hammersmith, Fulham, Richmond and beyond that this link across the Thames will remain open.

Most recently, as all parties will be aware, the Department for Transport provided the borough with a further £2.5 million for the crucial geotechnical investigations now being carried out at Hammersmith bridge, which will pave the way for the next stage of the works. This brings the total amount of Government funding to the bridge to date of up to nearly £10 million. That is exceptional funding.

The next stage of the project is to strengthen the core and renovate other structurally significant parts of the bridge. The strengthening phase of engineering works will build on stabilisation works and, upon completion, will allow the bridge to reopen to all users. That should include buses and motor vehicles. Following close co-operation with TfL and the Department, the borough has now developed and submitted a His Majesty’s Treasury Green Book outline business case for the second stage of the works to the Department for Transport, setting out the estimated cost range for strengthening the bridge. The Department is reviewing that outline business case in great detail. It was submitted in on 23 April, as I understand it, so clearly that is an ongoing process. The hon. Member for Putney asked about the HS2 project and the funding related to it, but no decisions have been made regarding reallocation of funds.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) also raised the local implementation plan. It is true that Transport for London provides formula funding to London boroughs for transport projects, but its budget for bridge projects is just over £2 million, to be shared between 33 boroughs. That is obviously insufficient to fund this project.

[Sarah Olney]

The Minister stressed at the beginning of his remarks that the repair of the bridge is the responsibility of Hammersmith and Fulham. While I fully accept that, does he not think it is in the Government’s interests to provide more substantial funding, because of the strategic nature of the river crossing? Would he consider the fact that, as I said earlier on, this is about more than local transport—it is a piece of strategic infrastructure? Therefore, responsibility aside, is it not in the Government’s interests to provide more substantial funding?

[Guy Opperman]

I want to address the hon. Lady’s point in brief, but I was going to come on to the legal basis. The practical reality is that, under successive Governments of different political persuasions, dating back many decades, the legal basis for this bridge and for other bridges in London is in relation to the local boroughs. It is the case, for example, that Wandsworth bridge required repair works, and in that particular case that was done by the local borough. She will be aware of the Local Government Act 1985, the Greater London Authority and the actions taken in 2000 with the mayoralty and the creation of TfL, which meant that significant roads became the specific responsibility of TfL.

With no disrespect, the A306, which runs over Hammersmith bridge, is a local road, as are, effectively, most of London’s bridges. I make the point again: under the Highways Act 1980 and various other Acts under successive Governments—this is not the work of one particular Government—these bridges and roads are associated with the local authority. I take the point the hon. Lady makes, and it is for that reason that the Government have spent over £10 million progressing matters as we have done thus far.

With no disrespect either to the hon. Member for Putney, who seemed to suggest there was nothing the Government have done and that it was all down to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the £10 million has been paid over a series of years to get to the hurdles that we have necessarily got to, and an agreement was entered into at an earlier stage. I do not believe I can add anything further, other than to congratulate her on securing the debate and highlighting the issue, which clearly affects her constituents and others in west London. I continue to assure her that the Department will provide support to both the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and to TfL on the bridge project as it goes ahead.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I have asked my officials to meet the Mayor of the combined authority in the very near future to continue the discussions we have already had, but, as I say, this is ultimately a commercial decision by the airport owners. We want to work with them and the authority to find the right solutions.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend to her place. May I urge her to continue the work of the former cycling Minister and Active Travel England, who were enthusiastic supporters of the improvement and upgrading of the cycle route between Newcastle and Hexham, and ultimately to Carlisle, to a cycle superhighway? This has the treble benefits of increasing commuting capability, cutting cost of living, and creating both active travel and a tourist destination.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My parliamentary neighbour is nothing if not a champion for all things active travel. I would be very happy for him to sit down with the new cycling Minister to discuss that in more detail. I agree with him absolutely that we need to look at such important cycleways, which offer a series of new economic opportunities, and get those spades in the ground as quickly as possible.