Davies Commission Report

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Laurence Robertson

Wednesday 1st July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

The hon. Gentleman, who has been in this place for a fair amount of time, tries another little trick to get me to prejudge what I have said several times I will not prejudge—nice try, but he failed.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to moving this issue on as quickly as possible for the sake of connectivity, the economy and the loss of business we are suffering. When he considers the local factors in west London, which he must do, will he consider the fact that Heathrow is geographically situated very conveniently for the majority of people and that if they were forced to travel further that would add to congestion and air quality problems?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I think I might have to refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave just a few minutes ago. Again, he tries to get me to prejudge where we are on this issue, and I am not prepared to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Laurence Robertson

Thursday 5th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

This may be the last time I am able to address my right hon. Friend in this Chamber. It has been a great pleasure to work with him over many years. He has made a huge contribution, not only to the House of Commons and the Conservative party, but in standing up for his constituents in Uxbridge.

I agree with my right hon. Friend that these matters need to be addressed very carefully. Of course, at the moment the whole question of HS2 is being studied by a Committee. I am not going to trespass on the valuable and important work it is doing, but my right hon. Friend makes some valid points. The importance that Old Oak Common will have to the infrastructure of this country is vast indeed, and I hope to be able to say a bit more about that shortly.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with train operating companies on increasing the use of rural railway stations; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

Officials regularly meet train operating companies where usage is a key discussion point. We are working hard with the industry to increase rural station usage. We recognise the important social role of stations in building communities, and have therefore introduced a new policy requirement to develop social and community development plans in new franchises.

[Mr Robertson]

I thank the Secretary of State for that response. Does he agree that one way we can get cars off the road and reduce congestion on our motorways and, indeed, on smaller roads is to develop rural train stations? We have one at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, which is a very good station, but it is underused at the moment. Can we try to make such stations better used by train operating companies?

Road Investment Strategy

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Laurence Robertson

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. He is talking about junction 8 of the M60, as well as junctions 20, 10 to 12, 24 to 27 and 1 to 4 of the M62. I appreciate and accept that while these works go on, there is disruption. First and foremost, I ask the Highways Agency to try to be as communicative with travelling passengers and motorists as possible so that they know where the troubles are going to be. It is very difficult to undertake upgrade works and not cause some disruption. However, my hon. Friend makes a valid point. I will talk to the chief executive of the Highways Agency to see whether we can do as much as possible on this concern for the travelling public.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

As the Secretary of State said, he was kind enough to visit the A417-A419 connection—the so-called missing link—where he saw the congestion for himself. He is aware of the death rate and the terrible accident rate on that road. Will he therefore be clear on whether this roads programme includes an allocation of money to sort that problem out?

[Mr McLoughlin]

As my hon. Friend rightly says, I visited, with him and other Members, the connection of the two dual carriageway sections on the A417 in Gloucestershire. I have announced today that this will be developed for the next road investment strategy, because the scheme is not easy or straightforward and will be very complicated to carry out. However, we will start to look at the options in the next road investment strategy period.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Laurence Robertson

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I will take no lectures from Labour about pricing people off the railways. This Government last year capped fares at inflation and have done so this year. We are the first Government to do so—the previous Government never did. The hon. Lady talks about the problem of serving northern cities and we fully accept that there are a number of problems. That is why the Chancellor has led on the question of how we improve connections between northern cities. We have to catch up after 13 years of neglect.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

5. What progress he has made on improvements to the A417 and A419 at Nettleton Bottom and Crickley Hill; and if he will make a statement.