Cycling: Infrastructure

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

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

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

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

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

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

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

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

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

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.

Biodiesel

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I fully appreciate the impact of very high fuel prices—I buy a considerable amount of fuel myself—but it is a little wide of this particular issue.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

My Lords, will the Minister explain to the House, for my benefit, as well as everybody else’s, what exactly his answer to my noble friend was, because I do not understand it?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, perhaps I will run over it again. The answer is that there is plenty of incentive from the issue of the renewable transport fuel certificate to suppliers to continue to supply biodiesel into the market. It is just a different way of achieving the same policy and complying with the renewable energy directive.

Olympic Games 2012: London Air Quality

Debate between Lord Hughes of Woodside and Earl Attlee

Monday 23rd May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, my noble friend makes an important point. Some of the congestion caused by roadworks has produced some traffic activity and therefore produced some pollution.

[Lord Hughes of Woodside]

Would the shorter and more accurate Answer to the Question asked by my noble friend Lord Berkeley be that no one is responsible?

[Earl Attlee]

No, my Lords. Everyone is responsible.