Buses: Wheelchair Users

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

I agree with my noble friend that community transport operators provide vital services. We are interpreting the exemptions to the EU regulations as widely as legally permissible within the existing legal framework so that as many community transport organisations and operators as possible can continue to provide their important services. There was a recent debate on this matter in the other place, and my honourable friend the Roads Minister has addressed this issue in detail. I will pass on a copy of his letter to my noble friend and place a copy in the Library.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister said that the Government have been working on this issue. For how long, how many staff are working on it and how much time has been spent on it, or is it simply a fig-leaf to cover total inaction?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I am afraid that I do not have the exact number of members of staff who are working on this issue. As I said, in March my honourable friend Nusrat Ghani agreed in detail the recommendations of the task and finish group. We are working on this and will continue to do so, and, as I said, we will come forward with a package of measures later this year.

Drones

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we will be looking to expand police powers in the Bill. I am of course aware of the issue of smuggling illegal substances into prison and obviously, the Ministry of Justice is determined to tackle this. It announced a £2 million investment to ensure that every prison has access to mobile phone detectors and is working with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to ensure that it is analysing drone use and acting on it.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness has twice said that she would reply to noble Lords who have asked questions. Would she go further and make a statement when she has made up her mind, or put a copy of her reply in the Library?

[Baroness Sugg]

I shall make sure that a copy of my answers is put in the Library.

Roads: Congestion

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Tuesday 5th September 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I thought I had replied to the noble Lord, but of course, if the noble Baroness is dissatisfied with my response, I would be happy to look at it again and come up with the exact funding figures. I am sure that our record will stand up to scrutiny, and I am happy to provide further details in a letter and place it in the Library.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

Will the Minister investigate the increase in pollution in London caused by the unending roadworks that are intended to reduce congestion, but end up actually making the congestion worse? Is this a plot to get rid of us altogether?

[Lord Callanan]

I suspect that the noble Lord should refer his question to Transport for London, but as I mentioned in reply to my noble friend Lord Tebbit, we are trying to come up with innovative schemes to reduce the congestion caused by roadworks and utilities. We think that the lane rental scheme will make a major contribution to that, but of course, we are always in the market for other ideas if people have them.

Railways: Northern England

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Monday 10th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I am, of course, aware of the noble Lord’s passionate opposition to HS2. However, I am afraid that on this one occasion I will have to disagree with him, because I think it is an excellent scheme and we will be going ahead with it.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

Will the Minister now answer the direct question of my noble friend Lord Clark about the reports in the press? Are they true or not?

[Lord Callanan]

No, they are not true. We are re-evaluating the scheme, but we will be going ahead with it and we will publish our proposals in detail on it in due course.

Railways: East Coast Rail Franchise

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, the franchise process is in train. The award will come in February, so I obviously cannot comment on the competitors’ offers at this time. That would be entirely improper. It is certainly true that DOR returned profits to the Government—not to the department. It is also important to understand that it has not had the demands that are placed on many franchises in the level of investment required. We will have new equipment coming on to the line and new rolling stock, too. That will mean significant new burdens and we have many greater requirements now in terms of customer service so there is a need for significant investment. That is why a new player needs to come in at this time. It is obviously open to any Government to own companies and use them in various ways. This country used to have an airports industry and ran steel mills and car companies. However, we have found that the franchising system has offered us excellence. Train-operating companies have delivered very good service at very good prices. We have seen the response to that from passengers who have doubled in number in the past 20 years.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside (Lab)]

Can the Minister say why the company currently running the franchise is not being given the opportunity to bid or to test itself against the conditions that the Governments are considering?

[Baroness Kramer]

As I said, the company currently operating this is a government entity. It was designed as a company that could step in when something went wrong. That remains important within the arsenal of our tools. There is a very different set of skills when one is looking at significant new investment and growth. This is the point that we have reached with this franchise, so it is very important that the opportunity is, as I say, open for the train operating companies to bid on this and offer a high-quality service. We will be looking for a very effective winning bidder.

Cycling: Infrastructure

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, although the Government support cycling, we do so only where it is legal. It is important that cyclists do not ride their cycles on the footpath. Enforcement is an operational matter for the police.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, although we must do everything possible to encourage the safety of cyclists, does the Minister agree that cyclists themselves can do much to help their own safety? For example, in the evening, when it is dark, one hardly sees the bicycle light flashing. Furthermore, cyclists seem to wear the darkest of clothes, which makes them almost invisible. Should not something be done to educate them, first, to have decent lights and, secondly, to wear fluorescent jackets so that they can be easily seen?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the Highway Code advises cyclists to wear appropriate high-visibility clothing all the time and make sure that their lights work. The noble Lord is right. Cyclists can do a lot to make themselves less vulnerable.

Railways: London Midland Rail Franchise

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, it would be premature to terminate the franchise at this point. There are severe penalties for breach of franchise. The noble Lord’s analysis of the problem may be right. However, it is important to understand that all train operating companies rely on rest-day working but only to the extent of about 3% or thereabouts, whereas this operator is now in the region of 6%. A shortage of drivers causes a serious problem for that operator but it is the train operating company’s problem.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

Can the Minister tell us what the benchmark is?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the short answer is no; the longer answer is that it is a moving annual average. The train operating company has the benefit of earlier good performance. However, if it carries on with the current trajectory, it will be in serious difficulties.

Olympic Games 2012: Traffic

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I can assure the House that Ministers of the Crown do not have any privileges in regard to the use of the Games lanes, with the exception of when advised to use them by the security services, and that will apply to very few Ministers indeed.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, how can the House have confidence in all the contingency plans here and there when, if we are to believe today’s press, a coach driver taking an Olympic team to the stadium could not find his way and took four hours to get there? He could not read a sat-nav and apparently was directed to the stadium only when someone managed to find it on their mobile phone.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I expect all noble Lords have had a sat-nav moment. I certainly have in my driving career. LOCOG knows where all the Olympic coaches operated by it are on the Olympic network and, if something goes wrong, LOCOG will know. I do not know the full details about the coach to which the noble Lord refers, but I can assure noble Lords that LOCOG has a good system for managing the coaches.

Vehicles: Insurance

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not aware of the detail of what my noble friend is telling me. However, I will ask my officials about it. I would point out that the number of foreign vehicles operating in the UK is relatively small.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, I believe the Minister said that there has been a summit with the insurance companies and that the Government were working closely with the insurance industry. Will he publish the conclusions of those summit meetings with a checklist of what the Government are doing about it?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I will write to the noble Lord with an update and place a copy in the Library.

Olympic Games 2012: Disruption to Businesses

Lord Hughes of Woodside Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I understand my noble friend’s point but, where restrictions are planned, they will be in place only for as long as necessary.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, the Minister keeps repeating that this or that plan has been approved and that this or that has got us the Games. Will he please tell us who will be able to use the lanes? It is quite simple and straightforward.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the answer is athletes, technical officials, media covering the Games, the Olympic and Paralympic family, and Games partners, who provide £1 billion funding for the Games and contribute to the operational running of the Games.