Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 18th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely understand the hon. Lady’s concern—it is a very busy weekend. These things are always difficult to judge and to get right. I share some of her anxieties, and I have asked the Rail Minister to look, with Network Rail, at whether further ameliorations can be made that weekend to ease the pressure. Going forward, I will ask the train companies and Network Rail to try to be careful to avoid some of the busiest peak weekends. We have to use periods such as Christmas and Easter, but I do understand the hon. Lady’s issue about the August bank holiday.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

For six years, I have tried to work proactively with HS2 on the route going through my constituency, and had great success, only for HS2 now to produce a Bill that sees a viaduct tear through Rothwell Country Park. HS2 has now had the audacity to send me a letter saying, “We don’t think it affects your area”—that is to the MP for Elmet and Rothwell. What can the Minister do to make Labour-led Leeds City Council, which does not care about my constituents or about us having an inappropriate station location, make this route change? Quite frankly, I can no longer support the HS2 project as it stands.

Rail Review: Terms of Reference

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I do not criticise it all the time; I have done the biggest piece of devolution on the railways for a long time, with the creation of the Welsh Valleys line. I look forward with interest and hope that the new Welsh franchise will deliver something significantly better for passengers. Of course I am in favour of sharing best practice across the whole railway and the whole transport system.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

May I ask that, as part of the review, Network Rail is made to keep some of the promises that it has made. My right hon. Friend will know what I am going to say because I bang on about it every time I see him, but the Access for All bridge at Garforth was promised years ago now, and all I have had is excuses and misdirection and no idea where the money given by the former Chancellor, George Osborne, has gone. As part of the review will my right hon. Friend ensure that, when promises are made they are delivered to my constituents because it is frankly an utter embarrassment?

[Chris Grayling]

I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration. A number of station projects did not make it in the control period that is about to end. We have funding for accessibility projects in the next control period, and I will certainly want to see those that are needed and have already been promised get prominence in the list of projects that we assemble to use that money.

Rail Timetabling

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Monday 4th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Of course I understand the frustration that the hon. Gentleman experiences. The irony is that these timetable problems have resulted from a planned expansion in services for his constituents and others across the north. It was designed to deliver thousands of extra train services for people across the north of England. It has not worked today and it must work soon.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

My constituents at Garforth, Micklefield and Woodlesford stations are agog at how bad the trains have got, and I lay the blame for a lot of this at the door of Network Rail, not the Secretary of State. There have been plenty of opportunities and plenty of promises made over decades; I was using this train line 20 years ago, and it was rubbish then and it is rubbish now. What can he do to ensure that Network Rail gets a grip of the situation and delivers on the promises it makes?

[Chris Grayling]

What we have to see is the completion of the investment programme, the delivery of the new trains and, above all, the sorting out of the timetable. Every train in the north of England is being replaced with either a brand new train or a completely refurbished one. The new trains are due to start arriving later this year. We have big investments taking place. The transpennine rail upgrade, at £3 billion, is the largest investment; it is part of the next rail infrastructure investment programme. It is just hugely frustrating that what has been done so far has yet to deliver the improvements it should to passengers and has actually made things worse. That must stop, and stop quickly.

Transport Secretary: East Coast Franchise

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Wednesday 23rd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

Is there not a much bigger problem with the Labour party’s policy of nationalisation? Labour Members are trying to keep us in the single market, but the state aid rules within the single market mean that we cannot nationalise.

[Chris Grayling]

That is absolutely true. The irony is—I shall say more about this later—that it is the rail unions that have been campaigning against the same European laws that the Labour party wants to keep. This is another example of Labour’s nonsensical position.

HS2 Update

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Monday 17th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke]

Bringing some brightness to this late hour.

May I say to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State that the jobs bonanza that will come with moving the depot to Stourton is hugely welcome to Leeds, the Aire valley and my constituents? On the conversation that I had with the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), and on the tunnelling that will take place under Woodlesford, has the Secretary of State given consideration to the site on which the depot will sit? Has he considered putting all the tunnelling equipment and the spoil on brownfield land, so as to minimise the disruption to my villages of Woodlesford and Oulton, and the traffic around them, during construction?

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting suggestion that I will pass on to the HS2 team. I am very glad that he supports this alternative site; I think it is the right one, and that people further south will welcome the decision. I have sought, having visited all the route, ways of minimising the impact, but as I said earlier, there are inevitably consequences of a project on this scale.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The whole point is that it is a consultation. We have not taken any decisions, and we do not even have an intent. It is about asking people, “There are ways of running this railway that could potentially make it more reliable. What do you think?” If the answer is, “We don’t want you to do that,” we will listen. My focus for the hon. Gentleman’s local passengers and for those local railways is to deliver more capacity, the best possible reliability and, in particular, longer trains. All those things are firmly on our agenda.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

The CH2M issue is a bigger problem for my constituents. It is welcome that instead of the proposed viaducts in my area there is now going to be a tunnel, but other changes and mitigation are still required. My constituents want to know whether the CH2M issue delays any potential changes or decisions that will affect their lives.

HS2 Update

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Tuesday 15th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The hon. Gentleman misses the central point, which is that this is a project about capacity. Whenever we have Transport questions, we hear about the pressures and congestion on, and the challenges for, our rail network. The west coast and east coast main lines, which are principal routes, are mixing together express long-distance trains, intermediate semi-fast trains, local community trains and freight trains. When things go wrong, they become congested and the trains are mixed and matched. We have to create extra capacity if we are going to be able to deliver solutions to the demands of the next generation. That is what this project is all about.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

May I start by thanking my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin), my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr Goodwill), the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State? As one of my constituents put it to me, what has happened today, with the actioning of my proposed reroute of the branch line to Leeds at Woodlesford, shows that the political system does work. However, the main line past Swillington and Garforth in my constituency remains unchanged, so will my right hon. Friend meet me at the earliest opportunity to discuss mitigation and landscaping that will limit the impact on my constituents?

[Chris Grayling]

I am pleased that my hon. Friend’s constituents are happy with the change in his area. My hon. Friend the Minister will be happy to meet Members from across the House later today if they wish to raise specific issues, and of course we will have those discussions.

I want to mention something that I should have said in my earlier remarks. I cannot remember which Opposition Member’s constituency includes Crofton, where one of the depots is planned. I have been to the site and I am looking actively at whether we can find an alternative location for the depot. I hope to be able to bring forward an alternative, but I cannot provide guarantees today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 15th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the new proposals for the HS2 route to Leeds will still be published this autumn?

[Chris Grayling]

It is definitely my intention to publish details of the proposed northern part of the route—the right-hand side of the Y on the last leg to Manchester—later this autumn.

Business of the House

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The hon. Gentleman represents a Welsh constituency, and it is perhaps not a coincidence that the Labour party lost seats in Wales at the general election, because it does not appear to be very much in touch with the concerns of Welsh business or, in this particular case, of Welsh farmers. I suggest that he talks to them about their concerns.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

In January I turned 40—[Interruption.] I know, I know. The reason why that is relevant is that the year before I was born is the last time we had wholesale reform of local government. Following on from the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), I think the time has come for a debate about how we run local government and whether it is fit for purpose. Mr Speaker, I know you are keen on brevity, so may we have a long debate about local government reform, one which needs to start specifically with the democratic accountability of one member per ward?

Business of the House

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Thursday 28th May 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely agree with the right hon. Gentleman: it was a shocking case and an example of wholly inappropriate behaviour. This Government will bring forward measures to address issues in the charitable sector. That will provide an opportunity to debate and discuss these issues, but I hope he will make a point of continuing to push on this matter during this Parliament. He will not find opposition in any part of the House to ensuring that charities operate in a way that is acceptable and, frankly, consistent with the role they are supposed to play.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

The House will have noticed today that Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, has stepped down from his role as middle east peace envoy. The whole of the middle east region is in a very dangerous situation, whether that be through further threats to countries such as Jordan or Lebanon, the refugee crisis going into Turkey or IS possibly infringing on a NATO country such as Turkey. An important debate has to be held in this country on how we see the middle east peace process and how we handle the middle east. May I urge my right hon. Friend to find Government time outside the debate on the Queen’s Speech so that we can properly address all those issues, which have become more and more paramount in recent months, and so that the view of this House and what Her Majesty’s Government should be doing to try to bring about peace in the middle east can be addressed at the earliest opportunity?

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely echo and endorse my hon. Friend’s comments about the situation in the middle east. These matters will of course be debated on Monday, but we will undoubtedly return to them in this House in the near future. I note my hon. Friend’s comments about Tony Blair. I think we should put on record our thanks to Tony Blair for the work he has done. I saw an interesting statistic the other day. The Labour party has had eight leaders in the past 40 years. Only one of them has won a general election, and he is the only one they never talk about.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and Lord Grayling

Monday 28th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

16. What steps he has taken to ensure that work contracted by his Department will not be moved offshore.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

We have a policy to control contracted work being offshored. Our suppliers are required to seek approval before they offshore any contracted work. Those approvals are predicated on their meeting stringent guidelines. I should also say that, as a team of Ministers, we have indicated very clearly to our suppliers that we will not countenance seeing existing UK employment offshored.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

My right hon. Friend’s comments will be welcome news for many of my constituents, who are employed by his Department in Leeds. Can he tell the House what the future holds for the disabled benefits centre in Leeds?

[Chris Grayling]

As my hon. Friend knows, we are in the process of rationalising our estate, where we have a number of part-empty and under-used buildings. We have not made a formal announcement about the future situation, but I can confirm that it is our intention to continue to process disability benefits in Leeds.