Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Bill

Lord Haskel Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 1st April 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Boateng (Lab)]

My Lords, I am speaking in the gap, and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McLoughlin, on this Bill. Its proponents and supporters were fortunate indeed to have steering it through Parliament such a past master in the art of securing legislative support for any measure. I do not rise as a result of the practice of his arts but as a result of a chance encounter that I had at the beginning of this week, at the memorial service for His Royal Highness, the late Duke of Edinburgh, who was a patron of Disabled Motoring UK. No one put a greater emphasis on the environment and—another of his great causes—including the marginalised in society, so that they might realise their potential and contribute fully to it.

It is to such an issue, related to this Bill but not arising directly from it, that I draw the House’s attention. A real problem has arisen for disabled drivers, in accessing electric vehicle charging, and in design and infrastructure inadequacies of that charging which make it particularly difficult for disabled people to contribute as they would wish to in tackling climate change. Research in this area reveals that today, only 61% of disabled people would consider buying an electric vehicle unless charging was made more accessible. Many disabled people find that their experience of the existing infrastructure is such that there is difficulty in terms of lifting the charging cable from the boot and then having to close it, and manoeuvring the cable to the charging point, with 66% of respondents to a survey conducted by the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers finding that the space or trip hazards and barriers around the car and the charger were making it either difficult or very difficult for disabled people to navigate access to the charger.

All this arises from a lack of consultation with disabled people in the course of the design of this infrastructure. Indeed, it was at the beginning of 2022 that the first fully accessible electric charging point in the UK was unveiled, representing just 0.003% of charging locations in the UK designed to be accessible to disabled drivers. In the same year, the institute undertook research into electric cars on behalf of a disabled organisation and found that the charging infrastructure as a whole showed a clear lack of consideration of disabled motorists as users or potential users of electric vehicles.

Can the Minister take back to her department the importance of this issue? Can she meet with me and other representatives of Disabled Motoring UK so that we can further explore this issue? Access to transportation and to the means to participate in the full range of activities that disabled people are entitled to engage in within our communities is essential. On that basis, I thank the noble Lord, Lord McLoughlin, for all that he has done to bring that about, and wholeheartedly support this measure.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, is taking part remotely. I invite the noble Baroness to speak.

Transport: Hydrogen

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 13th September 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

Yes, the Government will. The Department for Transport consulted earlier this year on measures to make the supply of renewable hydrogen into transport more cost-effective within the RTFO. We will publish a response on this consultation. I have to say to the noble Lord that I do not think that is going to be enough. We will be focused on the generation of both blue and green hydrogen. As he will know from the hydrogen strategy, the Government will be consulting on hydrogen business models and the net-zero hydrogen fund so we can figure out how we are going to unlock the greatest amount of private investment using the £240 million the Government will invest.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Transport Decarbonisation

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 19th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for their input into this crucial moment in transport decarbonisation. It is the first time that any Government have taken a holistic and cross-modal approach to transport decarbonisation. It is the first plan of its type in the world. We have set out what we need to do and how we will end transport’s contribution to climate change in the next three decades.

As the Secretary of State for Transport said in the other place, this is not about stopping people doing things, banning things and all those things that the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, is so keen on. It is about doing things differently. The plan is very much about taking the abstract—getting carbon out of our economy—and putting it into reality with actions, commitments and timings. Of course, there are many co-benefits to decarbonisation—we can have healthier and greener streets—and those too are very important.

The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, seemed to imply that consultation was somehow a bad idea. He complains that when the Government consult on this they have not made a decision. If I stood here and said that the Government had made a decision on something without consultation, I can imagine the response from your Lordships’ House, and it would not be good. Consultation is key for so many of these elements, and when we published the plan it was really heartwarming to see it widely welcomed by stakeholders from all across transport. That is because the strategic themes set out therein are so important.

As noted by the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, the first strategic theme is to accelerate

“modal shift to public and active transport”.


That is precisely what he said we were not doing, but we are—it is our number one strategic theme. The second is decarbonising road transport. We know that in transport itself, roads and road vehicles are the source of the greatest amount of emissions. The next theme of decarbonising how we get our goods—whether rail freight or road freight—will be really key in the future, as is establishing the UK

“as a hub for green transport technology and innovation”.

It is often omitted, but place-based solutions will be key. National Government cannot do this on their own; they will be reliant upon interventions from local transport authorities. Finally, on reducing carbon in a global economy, we are a leader, particularly for maritime and aviation. With those strategic themes in mind, I think the plan is a good one.

I will turn to a few more comments that the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, made. We recognise that charging infrastructure will be one of the biggest challenges of our time, which is why we have committed £1.3 billion to ensure that we can decarbonise charging at home, in businesses and in public places. The Government will publish an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy later this year. That will set out exactly how we plan to take charging forward. We have also published our response to the consultation on smart charging, so we will lay regulations in the autumn. Therefore, all private devices will be required to be smart devices. That will benefit the energy network as a whole.

The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, talked about how he was not entirely happy with the transition between the 2030 phase-out date for petrol and diesel and the 2035 one for zero emissions at the tail-pipe. That is exactly why we published the Green Paper on the carbon dioxide regulatory framework, because we want to engage with people as to exactly what that transition will look like between 2030 and 2035. We have two big options. We could tighten efficiency-based regulations to align with the petrol and diesel phase-outs, or we could do that and make a zero-emission mandate. It is the case that carbon dioxide targets alone do not guarantee the take-up of zero-emission vehicles, or indeed that the 2030 target can be enforced. We would welcome feedback from all noble Lords on that. Within that, there will be a consultation on what vehicles should be in scope—what does it look like between 2030 and 2035? We want to hear feedback, because then we will set the most ambitious targets that we can.

The noble Lord seems not to have been reading my Twitter feed recently, which is disappointing. He said that we were not supporting public transport as we come out of the pandemic. Again, that is not entirely right. I have managed to secure well over £200 million-worth of funding for buses—that will take the bus network through to April next year—and only last week a further £56 million for the light rail sector, which will make sure that our really important tram and light rail systems can continue to operate and provide the really important services they do.

More widely, upgrading local public transport is really important. Again, buried in the small print of the transport decarbonisation plan is something that made me very excited as the Minister for Places in the Department for Transport. We will ask local authorities to provide quantifiable carbon reductions as part of their local transport planning and funding. That is game-changing; it really is. It sounds very dull but it really is not, because when local transport authorities look to do their long-term transport plans they will need to put decarbonisation at their heart. If they do that alongside their bus service improvement plans and all the other transport planning they do, it will be really key for the future.

Before I sit down I will address the phrase that is so often bandied about: the “£27 billion road-building programme”. I do not know what the noble Lord and the noble Baroness are talking about. It is a programme that provides for the operation of the roads. Therefore, traffic officers, maintenance of the roads to ensure that they are safe for users, and the renewal of our bridges, a lot of which are now about 50 years’ old and need a lot of work, are included in all that. Then there is some money for enhancements. I again press the noble Lord and the noble Baroness: if they have any particular enhancements they wish me to scrub off the list, I will be very happy for them to mention them in the House next time and I will consider them.

To go back to roads—this is about not just the strategic road network but all roads—the point is that carbon is a key consideration for all road enhancement projects. When I receive the business case about whether to invest taxpayer funding into a road, we always look at carbon alongside safety, the economic case, air quality and biodiversity. All those things are taken into account when we make decisions on road investments.

I am grateful to the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their comments. I look forward to talking about this in greater detail in the coming months.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

My Lords, we now come to the 20 minutes allocated for Back-Bench questions. I ask that questions and answers be brief so that I can call the maximum number of speakers.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

The noble Lord, Lord Naseby, has withdrawn, so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, for the avoidance of doubt, will the Minister confirm whether hydrogen will be prioritised for hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping or heavy goods vehicles, rather than for areas that are relatively easy to decarbonise?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

This entire plan has tried to recognise that there is no one size fits all when it comes to decarbonisation. As I have already set out, hydrogen will be absolutely key when it comes to heavy road freight, maritime, aviation and maybe rail. We will also look to battery to decarbonise much of the traffic currently on the road. We recognise that to do this we need the right supply of batteries, all the components that go into batteries and the skills to produce the vehicles.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

My Lords, that concludes the list of questions.

Britain’s Railways

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 24th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

The Government are committed to decarbonising the railway as part of our wider, legally binding target of reaching net zero emissions across the whole UK economy by 2050. Our forthcoming transport decarbonisation plan will set out the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation that is necessary for us to achieve that. The rail network enhancements pipeline—the RNEP—will be updated soon, and in that we will have various schemes which will lead to decarbonisation. Indeed, we are working very closely on research to look at how we can also decarbonise the vehicles themselves; for example, by looking at hydrogen trains. The new industry structure, including Great British Railways, will ensure a more co-ordinated approach to delivering our carbon emissions commitments.

[Lord Haskel (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, as the White Paper states, passenger service contracts work well for local, regional and commuter services, but experience here and elsewhere has shown that these service contracts work less well on intercity routes because they allow less room for innovation. Will there be two types of passenger service contract to allow for this? Where will the line be drawn? Will it be just one size fits all?

Heathrow Airport Expansion

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

My Lords, it is Christmas, but I will not be teased. The noble Lord raises the question of noise and it is a good point. I have already noted that aircraft are quieter than they used to be, but this is an appropriate time to mention airspace modernisation. This programme, which will happen over the next few years, will make sure that aircraft can land and take off on a steeper trajectory, which should have noise benefits around airports.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Haskel) (Lab)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Private Notice Question has elapsed.

Covid-19: Walking and Cycling

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton [V]]

My Lords, local authorities already have the power to set 20 mph speed limits on their roads. The department has published guidance designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set. We do not support a blanket introduction of 20 mph speed limits, because they may not be appropriate in certain circumstances or for all roads and in all cities.

[Lord Haskel (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, cyclists prefer to use minor roads and leave main roads to motor traffic, but they are often discouraged to find that the surfaces on such side roads are broken and uneven through neglect. To overcome this, will the Government encourage local authorities to use the active travel fund to make sure that designated cycle routes and low-traffic areas have good road surfaces? Then, they would be used more.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton [V]]

The noble Lord makes an important point about road surfaces, which are important for cycling and other sorts of transport. That is why during the Covid pandemic the Department for Transport has made a great effort to invest in local infrastructure. Indeed, we have managed to put out £1.7 billion to local authorities so that they can invest in their roads and make sure that they are suitable for cycling.

Roads: Road Safety

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am pleased to say that, at last, the Home Office has approved the drug testing equipment which will enable the police to move on to requiring a blood sample to be given. This is in accordance with recommendations from the North report. The Government are extremely concerned about cycle safety. We are pleased to see the increase in the amount of cycling taking place. However, the difficulty is that we are seeing an increase in the number of casualties and we do not fully understand why that should be. There is an increase because of the rise in the number of cyclists and the amount of cycling, but the increase in casualties is still too much and we are working hard on it.

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, in the announcement that the Government made last week regarding the infrastructure, I could find nothing to help with the safety of cyclists. Did I miss anything or was there something in that announcement?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I do not think the noble Lord misses much at all. We have recently launched a Think Cyclist safety campaign and have made £35 million available to tackle dangerous junctions for cyclists across the country. The £35 million is part of the additional £107 million of investment in cycling that the Government have announced since February last year.

Apprenticeships

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I welcome the comments of the noble Lord, who I am sure like me remembers the days when there were many practical routes into all these professions and trades—routes that over the years have become graduate-only. We in no way wish to downplay the value of degrees, but an important step in raising the profile and breadth of apprenticeships will be taken if they can be linked to the status and standing that these sorts of professions have. It is definitely something that we are encouraging. We have not set any targets yet, and again I come back to the fact that this is a consultation period. However, we have been in discussions with the different professional areas. At the moment we have a total of 27 projects and two trailblazers, which will provide more than 25,000 higher apprenticeship places over the next three years. Those higher apprenticeships are going to be available in the very areas we are discussing. People are embarking on apprenticeships in a much wider range of professional and work areas than those that are traditionally associated with them.

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, following on from the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, about heritage, the impression was given that this was really quite a small affair. It is not. This is a business that has a turnover of over £5 billion and is growing. I urge the Minister to make sure that we try to support every growing sector of the economy. This is a growing sector, and apprenticeships here are important to grow the economy as well as for the tourist industry and the other things that she mentioned.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I apologise if I gave the impression that the heritage industry was small. I was trying to make the point that many of the component parts of it are very small. The noble Lord is absolutely right that it is a very important part of tradition and, of course, of the tourist industry, to which it makes a great contribution. However, it is much more important than that, too: it includes a very diverse range of skill and work areas and it is vital that we do not lose sight of these.

Britain’s Industrial Base

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Tuesday 9th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister to his new job and also congratulate my noble friend on moving this Motion about industrial policy. In recent years so much of our industrial policy has been a debate about devaluation and copying others. Our industrial base must be built on our own strengths. We have to correct our own weaknesses.

John Kay’s report of 23 July points to our first weakness. His diagnosis tells us that the financial markets in this country serve the business creators poorly. It is the agents and the middle men who are served best. He also says that the structure of the markets militates against long-term decision making. An industrial base is certainly a long-term project. An early task is to change the rules of the financial markets so that stewardship becomes the business culture of our industrial base.

Let me turn to manufacturing. As the noble Lords, Lord Hennessy and Lord Empey, explained, manufacturing has to be part of our industrial base. We have strengths in manufacturing. We have some wonderful companies in the motor industry and aeronautics, and I am sure that the Minister will join me in singing their praises, but are they part of Britain’s industrial base? The majority are foreign-owned—owned by global enterprises that are part of the global industrial base. They are of course committed to the UK, but their concerns are global.

We must now see our British industrial base as part of the global industrial base. Globalisation matters. These companies also see themselves as part of the single-market industrial base. That is why the EU also matters. But manufacturing itself is changing. New manufacturing techniques and biological processes make customised and small-scale local production viable, as my noble friend Lord Giddens explained. New materials are making products with new processes, and new technology is raising productivity to make existing processes faster. This new technology and these new ways of looking at business are turning economies of scale on their head. All this has to be considered in assessing our industrial base. We have a strength, with the Technology Strategy Board providing help, without undue commercial pressure, to find our way through these changes. The ability of the public and private sectors to work together to convert ideas into products and services must be part of our industrial base, as my noble friend Lord Adonis explained. Hand in hand with this is the strength of our science base. The Government tell us that expenditure on our science base is justified and will be maintained. This must be a strength, but is it true?

We now learn that Government departments have cut their R & D budgets, and the details are in today’s Financial Times. I am sure that the Minister has seen them. Perhaps he can explain what is happening and what the truth is. For a modern industrial base dynamics are important: business has to work in concert with science. Cluster dynamics, or knowledge and innovation communities as the commission calls them, are an important part of our modern industrial base. This is where a lot of the innovation comes from. You get a double benefit. If you create an innovative piece of medical equipment the whole nation’s health benefits from this medical innovation enabled by this piece of machinery. This double effect is one of the real benefits of having a modern industrial base built in this way.

The most important part of our industrial base must be our people, our human capital. In the modern industrial base, so much of the so-called brain work is increasingly undertaken by algorithms and artificial intelligence, much of it to raise productivity. Our strength will be to accommodate this and not fight it, as described by my noble friend Lord Bhattacharyya. Skills training will have to take a quantum leap. It is the quality and the standard, not just the quantity, that will be relevant. This improvement must be continuous. If this is true, then our best and brightest will have to become our teachers. Our Teach First scheme is a start, but we will have to move into a higher gear. This uplift in skills will have to apply to everybody, not just to an elite, because, as my noble friend Lord Giddens said, modern technology can destroy jobs as well as create them. Therefore, our industrial base must be based on an equal society, on one nation, because without a fair and equal social base, our industrial base will be built on sand.

Local Government Finance Bill

Lord Haskel Excerpts

Thursday 19th July 2012 Grand Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Haskel)]

My Lords, if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting, the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung and resume after 10 minutes.

Schedule 4: Amendments relating to council tax reduction schemes

Amendment 79B

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