West Coast Rail Franchise

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I did not actually announce the confirmation of that service, but I very much hope that it will be confirmed. I accept my hon. Friend’s bid for it to stop at other stations on the way, but we will just have to see what progress we make.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

When the direct line from Euston to Shrewsbury was withdrawn, it was a huge blow to the whole of central Wales—to the tourism industry, the economy and the travelling public. Will the Secretary of State accept my constituents’ appreciation of the fact that that direct link has been restored by today’s announcement, a full two years before it would have been if the FirstGroup bid had gone ahead? Will he also join me and my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on the first trip, on which I will buy coffee for both of them?

[Mr McLoughlin]

By the sounds of it, we will have a full train on that particular trip. I had better talk to my right hon. Friend the Chief Whip to make sure that the timetable is conducive to the House’s sitting times.

West Coast Main Line

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Westminster Hall

[Daniel Kawczynski]

That is very strange, because I knew that the announcement was to be made in August and I am just a humble PPS. I raised this issue with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister at Prime Minister’s questions, asking him to try to intervene to ensure that we have a direct rail service for Shrewsbury, and he clearly stated in his response on the Floor of the House in July that the result of the process would be announced in August and that he was sure that the train operators would have listened to my point about Shrewsbury. That is a matter of record during Prime Minister’s questions in July.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

My hon. Friend rightly makes references to Shrewsbury. I want to associate with his comments my comment about how important a direct line to Shrewsbury is for the whole of mid-Wales. Shrewsbury is our station as well, and a direct line from Shrewsbury to Euston will make a huge difference to the ability of the people of mid-Wales to use the train. I thank him for allowing me to put that point into the debate.

[Daniel Kawczynski]

I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour and pay tribute to the intense work that he has done to campaign for his constituents across the border in Montgomeryshire, many of whom will, of course, rely on this service.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Richard Branson the other day to talk about this issue. I would like my hon. Friend the Minister to know that Virgin is very keen—I am just making observations—to talk to the Secretary of State. It claims that it has tried to engage in high-level discussions over a long period. It is very keen to meet the Secretary of State to highlight its concerns. Interestingly, the impression that I get is that the Department for Transport is not keen to meet Virgin at this time because of the judicial review. I would be grateful for an update from the Minister. What is the situation?

I think that the judicial review will cost a fortune for both sides, and I very much regret the fact that taxpayers’ money will be used in trying to defend that challenge through the courts. An awful lot of money will be made by lawyers at the expense of the companies and the Government. We need to engage with the operators on the procurement process for the future. I want us to avoid these problems in the future. I want all train operators to agree on some form of bidding or procurement process that has buy-in, so that we can try to avoid these disputes. It is highly regrettable, when constituents are looking forward to better train services, that we have somehow degenerated into this legal quagmire, which could take a great deal of time and cost a great deal of money to resolve.

We are very pleased that there will be a direct service for Shrewsbury from FirstGroup. Apparently, Virgin Trains is now claiming that its bid also included provision of a direct rail service for Shrewsbury. However, I reiterate to the Minister that one of the biggest problems that we have is the lack of parking capacity at Shrewsbury station. I intend to meet Network Rail shortly to discuss that and will be trying to secure a meeting with him on that point as well.

Cost of Living

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

I promise to speak quickly, Mr Speaker, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in this debate and give a voice to my constituents, who are really struggling with the cost of living. Like other Labour Members, I wish to concentrate on the realities of how those on lower incomes are coping during these times.

Like other hon. Members, I found, in Newport, that the cost of living was the No. 1 issue on the doorstep during the local elections. The good voters of Newport had their say on the Government’s policies, voting out the Tory-Lib Dem coalition in Newport and electing a new Labour council. I feel very much that people are sending a message, and we must listen closely to them.

As other hon. Members have said, the Queen’s Speech undoubtedly contains some worthy ideas; many moons ago in this debate, my right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon North (Malcolm Wicks) mentioned flexible parental leave, a Labour idea, and I wish to mention the attempt to speed up the process of adoption, which was a real issue for the couple I met last week in my constituency. They have waited a long time to adopt and have left me in no doubt as to the difficulties of that process, and this is well worth tackling.

However, the Queen’s Speech is about priorities, and last week the Government failed to offer a glimmer of hope to those families and constituents of mine who find themselves struggling to get by and just managing to keep their heads above water. These are families who are living in the real world, where careful budgeting is thrown out by the washing machine breaking down or by a child needing a new pair of shoes—by just a small unexpected bill. They were looking to this Government to help or at the very least understand, but instead the Queen’s Speech came on top of the measures announced in the autumn statement and in the Budget, particularly the cuts to tax credits, and has done nothing to help and offers little hope.

While food, energy and fuel prices and transport costs are up, wages are stagnant or cut and the Government are taking away tax credits. In April, 730 families in my constituency will have had their tax credits reduced unless they have been able to find extra hours to work. They will have lost around £3,800 a year, but they are the people who can least afford to lose that money. They are on incomes of about £16,000 or £17,000 a year and are those most impacted by the price rises because they spend a disproportionate part of their income on fuel and food. They are the people who are now turning up at my citizens advice bureau with three children saying that they are staying in private rented accommodation, have had their income reduced by £70 a week and are really struggling.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

I have a lot of sympathy with what the hon. Lady is saying, but does she welcome the fact that the core measure in the Budget this year raised the very people she is talking about out of the taxation system altogether? The Budget and the Government’s strategy are aimed at helping the very people she is talking about.

[Jessica Morden]

I have a lot of respect for the hon. Gentleman but the Government are giving with one hand and taking away with the other. I just need to say “VAT” and “tax credit cuts”. I am sure that the family I am talking about who presented themselves at the CAB will not recognise themselves as being better off in any way as a result of the measures he mentions.

As other hon. Members have mentioned, there was nothing in the Queen’s Speech about helping with the cost of child care. For many families, it is as much as the mortgage or housing costs, if not more. What are the Government doing for families in my constituency whose child care costs are rising by 4% to 6%? The Childcare Trust recently pointed out that those costs are increasing, particularly for the under-twos, whilst wages are stagnant and the child care element of the working tax credit has been cut. There is an urgent need for creative solutions in this area of policy, as child care is a massive part of the cost of living for many of my constituents.

Last week in my constituency office—I cannot be alone in experiencing this—I saw constituents who are having to wait months, not weeks, for appeals on tax credits. In the meantime they are struggling along. I see people with disabilities who have medical evidence backing up their situation having their benefits withdrawn. Half of them then appeal successfully, but they have to wait months for their appeal. I am even seeing parents who cannot afford to take up nursery places because of the cost of petrol. In my local CAB there were 1,900 extra benefits cases in the last financial year, and that figure is going to increase.

There are two food banks operating in my constituency, with the churches in Caldicot looking to set up and operate another one. In December alone the food banks distributed more than 3,000 parcels. I have to pay tribute to the food banks in my constituency run by the Raven House Trust and the King’s Church. They are a fantastic example of the good society and have heart-warming community support. However, the new people turning up at food banks are often those affected by benefits changes who have to be helped until an appeal is heard or who, because of low pay, just cannot make it to the end of the week.

Finally, into this picture of people struggling with the cost of living in Newport we throw the fact that the Government are raising the spectre of regional pay. There are 23,000 public sector workers in Newport, which has a lot of public sector workers precisely because of the previous Government’s policy of relocating jobs out of the south-east to increase employment in targeted areas, which was a fantastic thing to do. As a result, our employers include not only the local authority and the NHS but the Office for National Statistics, the Prison Service and the Intellectual Property Office, to name a few. Those jobs have been a boost to our city and a huge success story, but public sector workers in Newport have had a pay freeze for two years now and there will be a 1% cap for a further two years. They are also having to pay increased pension contributions. We have had 9,000 public sector job cuts in Wales and the TUC predicts a possible 39,000 more in the years to come.

Regional pay would be devastating for Newport and Wales. Last week, the Welsh Government published their response to the Treasury consultation on regional pay, and all the parties in the Welsh Assembly have expressed their opposition to it. I agree with the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, that the proposal is just

“code for cutting pay in Wales”.

The Welsh Government point to the lack of Treasury evidence that high public sector pay crowds out the private sector. We believe this is a back-door way to drive down public sector wages and will be bad news for Welsh workers and the Welsh economy.

Not only will struggling public sector workers see their pay driven down; there will be a devastating effect on the economy in Wales. In my area, the public and private sectors are inextricably linked—they are intertwined. Money taken from public sector workers means less spent in the local economy, which then hits the private sector.

In Newport, we saw how close that connection was when the Home Office tried to close our passport office. Closure of the office would have devastated our city centre, which relies on the throughput of its staff and customers to survive. The argument that holding down public sector wages will make private sector jobs magically appear is ill thought out.

In Wales, women make up 64% of the public sector work force and 87% of part-time workers. The previous Government made particular efforts on equal pay. Average pay might be higher, but I ask the Government not to roll back progress for women.

In March, like many hon. Members, I challenged Ministers about where the extra hours would come from for families who would lose their tax credits as a result of the Government’s proposals. We said then that the Government had demonstrated no understanding of the real difficulties faced by families. Nothing in the Queen’s Speech demonstrates that they have any more understanding than they did then. I urge them to do all they can to help people with the cost of living.