Infrastructure Projects (Community Benefit)

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset (Mr Liddell-Grainger), who has spoken eloquently about power generation and about how we need to catch up on the infrastructure deficit in this country. I have come here to support that argument, because I believe that we do have such a deficit, which has built up over many years, not only in power generation but in other infrastructure. I will highlight transport and broadband, because connectivity now includes digital as well as physical connectivity.

I think that the public appetite for infrastructure investment is changing. People know that we have a huge problem with it. If we take our rail network, we have as many people travelling on it now as in the late 1920s, but it is a fraction of the size. That is a key cause of capacity problems and overcrowding. We must recognise that we will need to build more. The Government are, of course, responding, and extremely positively. We are seeing the electrification of more and more of our rail network. So far, this Government have announced the electrification of 850 miles, compared to the mere 9 miles achieved in the 13 years of the previous Government. That is a step change in our approach. Rail electrification makes a huge difference. Nearly all new rolling stock will be electrically powered. It is cheaper to run and cheaper to buy. The electric trains accelerate and decelerate more quickly, so we can have either more stops or shorter journey times. The trains require less weight, so there is less wear and tear on the tracks, and that is part of taking cost out of running our railways—we all want to see cheaper fares.

My point is that we have a backlog of infrastructure investment, yet at the same time we see huge numbers of local campaigns against investment. That is a difficult issue to resolve because we, as Conservatives, respect local communities and want more of them to participate in decision making. Nevertheless, we need to address the backlog of infrastructure, which is one of the biggest issues that crops up in my casework and surgeries. People talk to me regularly about the poor quality broadband in north Yorkshire. In fact, just outside Harrogate broadband falls off a cliff, and in parts of north Yorkshire superfast is just a dream. However, we have also managed to make some significant progress, and I have praise for the Government’s response in getting broadband trials going across the country, and for North Yorkshire county council, which has done excellent work locally.

North Yorkshire will be the first county to expand its broadband network as part of the Government trial. We have awarded our contract, the diggers will start rolling shortly, and by 2014 North Yorkshire should be one of the best connected counties in the country. North Yorkshire county council has been driving implementation through its company NYnet, and parliamentarians from across the county have come together to support the initiative. We had a successful conference only a few weeks ago, in which we moved from the planning of the process and the awarding of the contract, to saying, “Right. Now it’s about delivery. Over to you British Telecom—the successful bidder—get this contract in place.” My point is that there is public appetite, because people know we need broadband. But knowing that we need it, as we did with roads, rail, power generation and broadband, is not the same as having universal support. The Government’s approach to ensuring more community benefit will go a long way towards tackling that issue.

Drawing on one further example from my experience of eight years as a Harrogate borough councillor, I note that councils have not historically seen the benefits of economic development in their area. Councils incur costs for running economic development units, but they do not benefit from increased business rates. There is a misalignment between the effort and disruption and the reward. If we can increase that alignment, and the Government’s plan to localise business rates will go a long way towards that because it is a fantastic idea, we will start to see accountability, responsibility and reward aligned with economic growth.

I have made my point. The infrastructure deficit is a huge issue for our country. My hon. Friend has spoken powerfully about power generation, which is not straightforward, because almost all power-generation planning applications are extremely challenging. From wind turbines right up to nuclear power stations, they are all difficult. Transport and broadband are the same, but we have to get on with this. I very much support the idea of community benefit so that people see returns for their area.

--- Later in debate ---

[Luciana Berger]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that clarification.

There will obviously be a knock-on effect, with increased traffic and noise disruption. There will also be a much longer-term effect as the station is likely to be operational for 60 years, and the waste generated at the site is likely to be stored locally for up to 100 years.

On the precedent for energy infrastructure, the Government have previously supported community benefits for areas housing onshore wind energy generation. I believe I am right to say that they are moving towards a similar principle for waste energy. So there is a case for some community benefits beyond those afforded under section 106, to which the hon. Gentleman referred, and beyond the direct benefits that will come from more long-term employment and greater spending in the local economy.

As I said earlier, it is up to the Government to come forward with a suitable package and an announcement on a new regime to give more certainty to the communities that will be home to those new developments. In fact, the Minister committed to delivering local community benefits as part of the Hinkley Point C project during the 18 September Adjournment debate on this subject secured by the hon. Gentleman. The Minister said

“if the scheme is to be delivered, we must address the issues of community interest and values that my hon. Friend”—

the hon. Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset—

“raised. It is my desire—no, it is my mission—that that is delivered. We must turn these plans into action.”—[Official Report, 18 September 2012; Vol. 550, c. 895.]

I welcome that sentiment, previously expressed by the Minister, to get moving on infrastructure projects. I only wish that that desire was shared by more of his colleagues.

It would be remiss of me not to make a point more generally about the Government’s infrastructure policy. It is distressing that they currently have a poor record of getting desperately needed infrastructure projects off the ground. We have had plenty of announcements and promises of extra funds. We have seen lots of press releases and pictures of Ministers in hard hats, all designed to create the impression of activity. They distract from their failure to deliver a one-nation plan for jobs and growth. We have seen few results.

The 2011 national infrastructure plan identified 40 priority infrastructure investments that the Government said were of national significance and critical for growth, but many of those have not been started. A comparison of the construction section of the Government’s November 2011 infrastructure pipeline with the update published in April 2012 shows that no progress has been made on 171 of the projects—three quarters—while progress has actually gone backwards on 36.

[Andrew Jones]

I thought the hon. Lady did marvellously well to say, “One-nation infrastructure plan” with only a momentary glimmer of a snigger. Will she join me in at least recognising and congratulating the Government on the step change in their approach to rail electrification, a key part of our infrastructure, noting the difference between 9 miles in the previous 13 years and 850 miles so far under this Government? Surely that is worthy of support?

[Luciana Berger]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I, myself, was not sniggering. On his substantive point, I refer again to the Government’s own figures. We can look at isolated projects where there might have been some progress—I am obviously very keen, as a north-west MP, to see that sort of development on my local railways—but I refer again to the figures: three quarters of the projects have stalled and 36 have gone backwards. We cannot look at one project in isolation; we need to look at the whole picture.

[Andrew Jones]

rose—

[Luciana Berger]

I will continue, if that is okay.

Even for the projects that are on schedule, many are not due to begin construction for months or even years. Almost a year later, business is still asking, “Where are the diggers on the ground?” We all agree that we need infrastructure investment, but where is the delivery promised time and time again by this Government? A recent industry survey found that 60% of respondents claimed that a

“lack of clarity from the government”—

was the factor that most discouraged investors from investing in large-scale infrastructure projects here in the UK. Therefore, the lack of clarity on measures such as community benefit needs to be addressed urgently.

In conclusion, I hope that the Minister will be able to give us details about plans for a community benefit package for Hinkley Point. Will he also confirm whether the package will include the retention of business rates? Will similar arrangements be made available for future new-build nuclear projects? As I mentioned previously, this is not about a project in isolation but about the whole issue of community benefit. I urge the Minister to use his remarks to end the uncertainty and to give clarity about community benefit packages, so that renewed focus can be placed on delivering these vital infrastructure projects.