Airport Expansion
Caroline Voaden Excerpts(2 days, 23 hours ago)
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Mike Kane
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He is a very good campaigner for his local airport and for the public service obligation flights out of that airport. Not making these tough decisions does not mean there is no carbon—it simply means that customers vote with their feet and go to Schiphol, Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle to hub out to their destinations. We have to look at things in the round when we are talking about decarbonising the UK aviation sector.
Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)
Given the hugely contradictory evidence on whether expanding airport capacity will boost GDP growth, will the Minister explain how the Government can justify prioritising airport expansion over much-needed substantial investment in green travel and public transport, which would benefit the economy in the long term and benefit a far wider group of people in this country than the very small group of wealthy frequent flyers who will benefit from airport expansion?
Mike Kane
I am hearing that Members on the Liberal Democrat Benches are against wealthy people and against our constituents flying, in some cases. There is no bigger champion of active travel in this House than me—except for my ministerial colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell—and I hope to do a lot more on that when it comes to ports and airports. All people, regardless of their income, should have a choice about how they get around. We had a broken system over the past 14 years, which meant people had no choice. Now, they are getting better buses, their potholes are fixed, and we are investing more in active travel than ever before.
Rural Bus Services
Caroline Voaden Excerpts(4 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Simon Lightwood
I pushed for that when I was in opposition, and we did some consultation just before the general election. We are busy looking at the feedback and will report on it in due course.
Under the Government’s action plan for buses, we will step in and ensure that local bus networks provide more accountability over bus operators, so that standards are raised wherever people live across the country. Making fares as affordable as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities. As the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton said, the £2 fare cap is due to run out on 31 December. We are looking carefully and at speed at what to do in the future to support bus networks.
Local authorities, bus operators and passengers are eager to hear more details of our plans, and I assure them that we are working at pace to consider how we might best support buses in all areas, including rural communities, in our upcoming spending review. We will work closely with local authorities and bus operators to understand what is needed to improve and grow bus networks.
Simon Lightwood
I am just about to finish, but go on—I have given way to everyone else.
Caroline Voaden
Will the Minister consider the health impact of rural bus networks? Rural settings are very different from urban ones, and given the serious health implications of isolation and loneliness, particularly among older people, good bus connections can have an impact. My hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) talked about balancing the rural-urban funding divide. It is so much more important that bus services are subsidised in rural areas.
Simon Lightwood
As I said, it is important that local leaders get to decide—that they take back control of bus services, use the funding that is devolved to them and make informed decisions in their local areas.
We want to learn from the experiences and build on the successes, and I look forward to announcing more information on the buses Bill and the Government’s plans for bus funding in due course.