Heavy Commercial Vehicles in Kent (No. 1) (Amendment) Order 2020

Lord Pendry Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pendry (Lab)]

My Lords, I wish to declare a kind of interest in this debate. I am a resident of the Isle of Thanet in the county of Kent, and as such have an interest in some of these important issues, especially those before the House today: the commercial and environmental aspects that impinge on the county of my birth—St Peter’s, Broadstairs, to be exact. Some noble Lords will have other, very meaningful reasons for entering this debate, and I look forward to hearing those and, indeed, the Minister’s reply to this short debate. As a remainer, I would have hoped that the instruments before us were unnecessary—although there have been traffic problems surrounding the outskirts of Dover for as long as I can remember—but we are where we are.

In this short debate I wish to dwell on the amount of money that has been expended in such a prolific way, reflecting the level of stupidity, when taking these three instruments together, mindful of the fact that no doubt the problems envisaged may never take place at all. I wish to dwell on that narrow yet important part of the instruments before us today. In that regard, I recently asked some Parliamentary Questions of the Minister sitting on the Government Bench today. I was concerned about the costs to the taxpayer that have already been expended in relation to the Manston Airport project. As an aside, I am sure everyone here will know that Manston Airport is the largest airstrip in the country and played a great part in the Battle of Britain in the Second World War.

The Answers to the Questions that I put to the Minister concerning the Manston Airport project were that

“between August 2015 to June 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) has paid a total of £19.4m for the use of Manston Airfield as a lorry park”—

it might be of interest to noble Lords that not one lorry has been parked at Manston during that period—and that some £10.3 million has been expended

“as part of the EU Exit no deal preparation contingency planning and £9.1m for the use of Manston Airfield for business as usual”,

whatever that means,

“and Operation Stack. This has enabled DfT to use Manston Airfield to hold HGVs for traffic management purposes”

in the event of a dispute. Yes, Minister, the money spent is of concern, but imagine the net effect on the villages of Manston, Minster and Monkton, and the surrounding areas, of what they have had to put up with for over a year. What the Minister’s department refers to as a temporary backup holding lorry facility causes disruption not only to the villages mentioned but to traffic generally. The department described the measure as temporary—needed for a period of six months based on current planning, it was said—when in fact it has been going on for some 18 months.

That is not the end of the disruptions taking place for those people: there is also the extra cost of flood- lighting, security and road diggers, while the entire airfield has been covered in cones for months for no obvious reason. For those reasons, I hope the Minister will respond and give some very good explanations for why so much money has been expended unnecessarily on these projects.

Sports Grounds Safety Authority Bill

Lord Pendry Excerpts

Friday 13th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pendry]

My Lords, at first sight one might think that the Bill is somewhat unnecessary as it contains many of the essential undertakings of the Football Spectators Act 1989. However, after studying it, and certainly after listening to my noble friend Lord Faulkner of Worcester, one recognises that some important additions are necessary to the 1989 Act, and I endorse his thinking behind the Bill. Indeed, I cannot add anything of substance beyond what he said, as I think has already been recognised by the noble Lord, Lord Addington.

To my mind, the change in name is important only because the remits of the FLA have been extended beyond football so that it can share its vast wealth of experience and knowledge with other sports. It is also important to note the additional powers, pointed out by my noble friend—notably, to provide additional advice about safety not only to national venues but, more surprisingly, to international organisations, persons or bodies, local authorities and, indeed, Ministers of State.

It is true that many of us in the other House who took part in the proceedings of the 1989 Act were perhaps in a bit of a hurry to get the legislation on to the statute book in the wake of the football disasters of Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough, and therefore in our haste we did not look in as much detail as we might have done at how health and safety legislation could affect other sports as well. As outlined by my noble friend, this Bill, which was started in another place, has taken us a step further, ensuring that other sports grounds meet the necessary safety requirements.

However, it is somewhat worrying that sports other than football may well have to pay for the expertise provided by the new authority, as pointed out by the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Oldham. It is especially worrying when one considers that the FLA’s funding was cut by 4 per cent in the comprehensive spending review, even though the good work that it undertakes has been recognised by successive Governments. It must be taken into consideration that the new body may be tempted to recoup some of that money by charging unrealistic levies to other sports. However, I was somewhat reassured by what my noble friend said, and I am sure that when he replies to the debate he will undertake to answer the points raised on this subject by me and by my noble friend Lord Davies.

Having said that, I give my complete blessing to the purpose of the Bill, whose main thrust will continue to be geared towards football. As a result of the Bill, other sports will be assisted and, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games looming, numerous sports in this country will be beneficiaries of the renamed FLA. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority will be able to benefit from the FLA’s experience and staff, and will ensure that the original intentions of the 1989 Act are carried over for the benefit of sports other than football.