Fuel Prices

Debate between Duncan Hames and Justin Tomlinson

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who has a fantastic track record of leading on this extremely important issue. This is yet another debate in which I am pleased to support him. I am also proud to be a member of the FairFuel UK and PetrolPromise campaigns, which are bringing this issue to the forefront.

Petrol prices have been increasing for decades under the twin pressure of rises in fuel duty and oil prices. The previous Labour Government hiked fuel duty 12 times in 13 years and it always amazes me that the Opposition are in such denial about that. They were very quick to take credit when they increased spending on public services, so they should also take credit for how they paid for it. With uncertainty in the middle east and limited resources, global oil prices will continue to rise. Together, those factors have stretched motorists to breaking point, so that many of them are priced out of their cars and businesses struggle with additional costs.

I welcome the Government’s move to scrap Labour’s further six planned rises and the modest but welcome 1p cut in fuel duty. Fuel is about 10p cheaper than it would have been had the former plans gone through, which more than covers any changes under VAT.

I accept that the wrecked economy we inherited means that money is tight and that we cannot just wave a magic wand. I surveyed the good people of my constituency, however, and asked them what their priority would be if they were Chancellor and suddenly inherited some money to play with. The choices were VAT, income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax or fuel duty. Fuel duty was by far the most popular, by a significant distance. I asked residents why that was the case, and I will use the Government’s changes to income tax thresholds to illustrate my point. The changes to income tax were welcomed because they took 2 million people out of paying tax altogether and benefited 24 million others. However, people could not say how much they had benefited personally, but the one tax they could describe was the cost of fuel, which is a clearly displayed, tangible cost. If we do one thing to kick-start and boost consumer confidence, it should be to cut fuel duty. My plea to the Chancellor is this: as and when he finds the money, a cut in fuel duty should be the No. 1 priority to boost the economy.

[Duncan Hames]

My constituent, Michael Hudston, campaigns assertively on this issue and he is acutely aware of how much tax he pays. When he fills up at the pump, he pays an effective rate of tax of 146%. Interestingly, three years ago it was as high as 200%, which demonstrates the point my hon. Friend was making, which is that, so far, tax changes have not made the situation worse in the way alleged by Labour Members.

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend and agree with his comments. I remember that on the day of the 1997 general election—not a particularly happy memory for the Conservative party—I paid 57p a litre to fill my car.

My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow presented evidence about how the oil industry is acting, and how it is quick to pass on any rise in oil prices but slow to pass on cuts, and all parties are united in the belief that much needs to be done. The statistic given was that for every 10p fall in the wholesale price, an average of 7p is passed on to the consumer. I therefore welcome the decision by the Office of Fair Trading to investigate the actions of the oil market. All local residents will be keen to know whether they are being defrauded and ripped off, which I think we all suspect is the case.

We must accept that we will not see cuts to fuel duty in the short term, and that world oil prices will continue to rise. As demand grows and resources are limited, pressure will increase and we must look at the alternatives. I welcome the fact that in my constituency, Honda UK, in conjunction with BOC, has taken advantage of Government grants and created the first open-access hydrogen refuelling station. My hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland) and I lobbied hard to ensure that that remains in place. The key for those alternatives is the availability of refuelling infrastructure for all the different resources. We must invest in those alternatives so that we can deal with the pressures that I have mentioned.

Public Libraries

Debate between Duncan Hames and Justin Tomlinson

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Westminster Hall

[Justin Tomlinson]

That is why I requested this debate, which I hope will highlight that although councils have difficult decisions to make, there are options that can transform the service that is offered, as my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson) highlighted.

I am pleased that the Minister has announced that the future libraries programme, led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the Local Government Association group, will work with and support councils to deliver key services for communities while driving costs down. I welcome a rethink of the way that library services are delivered, and I endorse the introduction of shared services, merging functions, staffing across authorities and greater connection with other local services, where appropriate for the community. Councils need to deliver fresh initiatives to achieve cost savings and new partnerships, and they must make the most of digital advancements because further opportunities will arise through the medium of digital books.

We must ensure that libraries deliver the services that communities want and need, and that they can adapt and be shaped by the local people who use them. That is why library services should be run at a local level. Local authorities are important for the delivery of library services, but the responsibility of the day-to-day running of libraries must lie with library managers.

The person running the library and their relationship with the community is what matters. Flexibility and efficiencies can be enabled by cutting out bureaucracy and upper management. If libraries are run from the bottom up, front-line staff are given the freedom to provide a service that caters for the public who want to use them. Managers are often too heavily controlled from above, and each individual library should be released so that it can have a relationship with the community. The most important person should be the manager who must know their library, their customers and the needs of their community. By cutting corporate structure and giving management back to individual libraries, services can be tailored to—and led by—the community.

Where possible, back offices should be reduced, and activities that are not part of the libraries should be removed. Public library statistics state that only 7.5% of library expenditure for 2008-09 was spent on book stock, which is staggering. There should be a reduction in bureaucracy through the use of universal categorising and cataloguing, and labelling should be standardised. Costs saved by cutting through red tape can be spent on improving stock, opening hours and the environment of the libraries—areas that have been shown to be important to the public but which have all too often been neglected. National library campaigner, Tim Coates, is passionate about that issue, and rightly so as it is exactly how Hillingdon local authority helped to transform its library service.

If services are released from a corporate structure that undermines managers, decisions can be made about vital areas such as stock. Such decisions can be made directly in response to requests and local demand without additional bureaucracy or delay. When we opened our new central library, we allowed local residents to pick and choose—within legal boundaries—any item or book that they wanted to have in the library. That is important, as people will not use libraries if they do not have the books that they want or the stock is not up to date with new releases or trends. Big-name bookstores such as Waterstones often provide a wide variety and an up-to-date collection, and a pleasant coffee culture environment in which to enjoy a book. Libraries must be able to compete and go further by also providing additional services that are unique and appropriate to the local area. Again, I refer to the excellent example given by my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle.

Local communities need to be able to access services or be offered a service that they want. The library manager can be responsible for successfully offering and delivering services appropriate for the area—as they know it best—working in conjunction with volunteers. For example, delivery services to the elderly in local care homes or reading time for children after nurseries or schools finish, with the use of volunteer groups, can help to take the library directly to the community and drive up usage. I recently experienced that when I took part in the launch of the Swindon summer reading challenge for children, acting as an elephant in the support cast for author Neil Griffiths’ excellent live story time. Thankfully, my red-faced performance, which has not featured on YouTube, did not put off the children, with an amazing 2,598 children signing up—a just reward for the staff and volunteers who went that extra mile to make the library exciting for the children.

Local solutions can be developed to increase opening times. In Swindon, we saw the Old Town community library facing closure. I know that the Minister is well aware of it. There were concerns about limited opening times, fears of falling usage following the opening of the new Central library and concerns about an unsuitable and cramped building. That was typical of so many closures across the country. However, local campaigns were organised, led by local activist and passionate library supporter Shirley Burnham, and thankfully a practical solution was found by moving the library into the arts centre just around the corner. Incidentally, that move is happening as we speak. The move started today, and knowing Councillor Fionuala Foley and head of libraries Allyson Jordan, there will not be any delay in the library opening later this week.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. We could certainly use his experience elsewhere in Wiltshire. My local council is proposing to close Melksham library and replace it with bookshelves in the foyer of an out-of-town swimming pool and leisure centre. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the arts centre that features in the innovative solution that he has outlined is a much better bedfellow for a library than the rather damp suggestions that people have been experiencing in my part of the county?

[Justin Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I am not familiar with that area in particular. There are opportunities to extend the library service in places such as leisure centres, with self-service machines, but I question their replacing the library service and I suggest that the council thinks a little more and comes up with more innovative ideas and consults the local community a little more widely to find a solution that will work.

The move to the arts centre will not only provide a modern, improved environment. In addition to transferring the existing 18 hours of staffed opening, those hours will be extended, through the use of self-service machines, to the 40 hours for which the arts centre is open during the daytime, plus any evening performances—crucially, at no extra cost to the taxpayer. With the additional footfall driven by the library, the arts centre will surely see increased sales for its performances and the café will be made more viable—a real win-win situation, thanks to the willingness to adapt and change. That highlights the thrust of my proactive case.