Zero-emission Vehicles, Drivers and HS2

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Harper]

One thing that we will do, as we work through the consequences of the decision, is set out the details exactly. I will not do so now because there are important legal consequences for such things, but we will set out the details exactly for people whose properties were subject to compulsory purchase orders—my hon. Friend will know, there are rules detailing what happens when such properties are no longer needed for the purpose for which they were purchased—to protect the constituents who were affected. We will set out details of how that will work in due course, and will keep her informed.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

I was very pleased when the Prime Minister announced the electrification of the north Wales line, having been a long-term advocate of that sort of project. In fact, as long ago as 2003, I met the chair and chief executive of the then Strategic Rail Authority to press for it—he said no. Twenty years later, I remember the SRA’s motto, which was “Britain’s railway, properly delivered”. I was concerned that the Prime Minister noted a figure of £1 billion for the north Wales project; many commentators think that that is quite insufficient. Can the Secretary of State guarantee that the project will be properly delivered by being properly and fully funded?

[Mr Harper]

I am grateful for what I think was a welcome for the north Wales mainline electrification. I met Network Rail following the announcement we made, and it will now do the detailed work on delivering that scheme. It will announce the details, the timeframe and so forth in the usual way, and I look forward to the hon. Gentleman’s support for each stage of the project.

Rail Services

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Monday 20th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

I just cannot reconcile the Secretary of State’s statement that services have improved with my own experience as a passenger over the past month, from today’s minor inconvenience of no food being available on the long journey from Bangor to London, to the delays in last week’s trains, to what happened the previous week when the trains did not turn up at all—and that is on top of the withdrawal of direct services on the vital Irish route through my constituency and Ynys Môn to Holyhead. How can the Secretary of State have any confidence that in six months’ time the service from Avanti will be any better?

[Mr Harper]

There has been an improvement over time. Last year, I made it very clear that services were completely unacceptable. Avanti introduced a new timetable in December, but it was impossible to see any improvement during the first month of its operation owing to sustained industrial action affecting either the train operating companies or Network Rail. Avanti has since improved its performance, but I accept that it is not all the way there, which is why I extended its contract by only six months. Those at Avanti are well aware that they are still on probation and have more work to do, and I shall expect to see sustained improvement on punctuality and timekeeping, on cancellations, and on the way they work with their customers. We will be holding them to account, and my hon. Friend the Rail Minister will continue his regular meetings with them to ensure that their performance continues to improve, for the benefit of the hon. Gentleman and his constituents.

Avanti West Coast

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Trudy Harrison]

I fear I am repeating myself. I have said consistently that those conversations, that probing and that challenge are happening right now across the Department and a decision will be taken on 16 October this year.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

The train service to Bangor in my constituency was never great, but now it is dire, with trains cancelled, trains late, trains packed, ticket prices sky-high and no reliable service to and from London. Visitors to north Wales are abandoning the train in Crewe and taking to their cars, and my constituents are driving all the way to London rather than taking the train. So much for Union connectivity—so much for green travel. Is it not clear to the Minister that Avanti West Coast should lose the franchise and be replaced with a public service as in other, more developed countries such as Germany?

[Trudy Harrison]

While I have deep sympathy with the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, and indeed with everybody who has endured the pain of an unacceptable, unreliable train service for far too long, I also want to point out that we are working with Avanti and all train operating companies, which have had a particularly difficult time during the pandemic. I agree that it is unacceptable that people should feel the need to drive all the way from north Wales to London, because that flies in the face of our decarbonisation targets, adds to congestion, increases emissions and, frankly, is not the most pleasurable way to travel across the country.

I for one thoroughly enjoy my train journey from my community down to London, and I want many more people across this country to travel by train. That is why we have taken the steps we have, not only to challenge Avanti and all train operating companies on their recruitment, their diversity, on improving the fact that only 12% of train drivers are women and the fact that the average age is approaching the average retirement age, but to relay to the public the advantages of travelling by train, on which I am sure he can agree with me.

P&O Ferries and Employment Rights

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

P&O’s mass sackings are clearly a matter of putting profits before people, and the fact that they were done by Zoom just confirms the employer’s callous stance. It is scandalous that this should be happening at a time of a cost of living crisis. It is an attack on the viability of the UK maritime sector as a whole. In Wales, thousands of people are directly employed in the sector, on ferries in Holyhead, Fishguard, Pembroke Dock and Swansea. The additional indirect employment and benefits reach far out into our economy. The estimate is that for every £1 of domestic output initially generated by the maritime sector in Wales, the Welsh and UK economies get a gross value added gain of £2.70. That is the scale of loss we are facing. This attack on the rights and jobs of seafarers will do great harm to the maritime sector as a whole and to the wider economy.

As we have heard, P&O does not operate ferries from Holyhead, although it has a long history with the port; Stena Line is the major employer and it is a significant employer for north Wales. It, however, has been under pressure with the post-Brexit trading arrangements. A significant proportion of the former UK land-bridge freight now moves directly from the Republic of Ireland to France and north-west Europe, with traffic through Welsh ports permanently down by 30% since 2019. That is the situation we are facing. Any actions the Government do or do not take now will set a precedent for others, and I fear we might be facing a race to the bottom across the industry.

The Government must therefore pursue all legal options available, including criminal proceedings, in response to P&O’s failure to follow its statutory obligations. They should also review all P&O Ferries’ licences to operate vessels in British waters, review any contracts they currently have with P&O Ferries and leverage future Government support to restore the jobs lost—we need to see these seafarers get their jobs back. I include in that contracts with the parent company, DP World. Importantly, as has been mentioned, that includes plans for DP World to run freeports in the UK, which the Chancellor had previously said he was “delighted” about. If the Government do not end their contracts with DP World, they are actively signalling a green light to those low standards for the maritime industry in the UK and the bad effects that we have heard about and I have outlined.

Finally, and importantly, the Government must outlaw fire and rehire. My party’s view is that in the long term the best way to safeguard workers’ rights in Wales is to devolve employment law, so that we can create a strong and fair settlement for workers that protects their livelihoods from opportunistic bad employers by providing decent working practices, pay, terms and conditions.

Britain’s Railways

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Thursday 20th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend because, as a former Rail Minister, there are few people in this House who will know more about this subject than him. During this White Paper’s time, he has made a significant input to what we have today, so it is in no small part his triumph as well. We have Great British Railways thanks to him.

To pick up my hon. Friend’s point about the rail ombudsman, there is clearly talk in the White Paper, which I think he will appreciate—and even recall—about strengthening the role of the passenger champion. I know he pushed for that in his time in the job, and I think he will be pleased with what he reads today.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Welsh rail services too often do not work at all or work very poorly indeed. That is unsurprising given that, as Professor Mark Barry of Cardiff University says in a Welsh Government report, in Wales we have 11% of the rail network, but it gets 1% of rail investment. This White Paper, as far as I can see, unfortunately offers not a lot that is new or useful to address this. Is the Secretary of State aware that the respected Wales Governance Centre, also at Cardiff University, reports a very straightforward conclusion? It says that rail enhancement spending to improve the often dire service that local people endure in Wales would be

“higher under a fully devolved system.”

So will he just ensure that the Welsh Government get full control of rail in Wales?

[Grant Shapps]

I should point out that the railways have not been some sort of money spinner for the Treasury in the last year. We have spent £12 billion, including on the Welsh services, so I am not sure that anyone would have welcomed the cost of the lines. Of course, I have devolved the core valley lines to Wales. In general, though, the infrastructure is run at the moment by Network Rail and it will be run by Great British Railways. I do want to challenge the hon. Gentleman on the figure he used, because I do not want it to go uncommented on. I am sure he is aware that the 11% and 1% figure is hotly disputed, due to the fact that it does not look at passenger numbers and that geography is different in different parts of Great Britain. None the less, on the main thrust of wanting to see those services developed, I am entirely in support of that and I will do whatever I can, while, as the name suggests, Great British Railways will cover the whole of Great Britain.

Covid-19: Transport

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

Although I cannot provide that clarity to my hon. Friend today, because I would want to come to the House first to announce the details of how that money would be divided up, I take the opportunity to pay tribute to him in Stoke-on-Trent North, and to his colleagues, my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton) and for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon), for the extraordinary work they have been doing in securing the transforming cities funding for their residents. I am sure he will be very pleased when we allocate the £2 billion.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

Further to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day), the Government are now urging people in England to use face coverings in confined areas such as public transport. There are many people who commute daily across the Wales- England border to go to work and for other rightful activities. Will the Minister ensure that there is clear information on cross-border public transport—such as in announcements, or on large posters—and proper enforcement by the British Transport police, consistent with the fact that in Wales, wearing a mask is not sufficient, and that people must stay at home unless their journey is absolutely necessary? Will he give us some of the detail, please?

[Grant Shapps]

I am grateful for that point. We have been careful to make it clear in the guidance—including in the 60-page document released yesterday, but also in the transport guidance—that rules do vary. We have made it clear, for example, that people from England should not be travelling to Wales to take their exercise—that would be wrong, because it does not fit with the “Stay at home” message in Wales. I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that I will definitely take on board his point about ensuring that the cross-border discussion—specifically, how transport works—is fully reflective of that different advice. I will even take his idea about announcements and so on into account as well.

Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Westminster Hall

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

My apologies. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz) clearly has something to say in the debate, and it is important that everybody who wants to speak has the chance to listen to the opening speeches. Without an opening speech from the Transport Committee Chair to set the context for this debate—the Opposition have a few things that we would like to say, although the reports deal comprehensively with the issues, and the Government’s response is equally detailed—it would be helpful if you could advise us, Mr Williams, how we might proceed so that everybody who wants to participate can do so.

[Hywel Williams (in the Chair)]

Thank you for that point of order, Mr Fitzpatrick. I think we have shown a degree of forbearance. It puts us in a difficult position if we have neither a Whip nor a Minister, but I am advised that we may proceed, and I think that we had better, given that we have hon. Members here who are anxious to contribute to the debate. I will take advice during the debate, and if we can start, we will see how we might stop as well, which might be something of a problem. I call Mrs Ellman.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Ellman]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. One issue raised during our inquiry was that the European travel package regulations are being renegotiated, which may take some time. That makes it particularly important that our Government, through the Department for Transport or whatever part of the Government is thought to be correct, advocate during the long-drawn-out discussions on that package, what is correct for UK consumers. It is an ongoing process, and it would be helpful to know what the Department is pursuing in this area at European level, what stage those discussions have reached, and how it will be involved as they proceed and before the extensive European travel package regulations are finalised.

The charge of £2.50 per passenger to pay for ATOL is unfair, because it is not linked to the value of the holiday booking or any assessment of risk. Someone booking a cheap package deal with an established operator pays the same for protection as someone buying a luxury trip to a far-flung country with a niche provider. That is unfair, and the situation would be even worse if flight-only bookings were included, because the ATOL charge could be a high proportion of the cost of a cheap flight. The Government have agreed to re-evaluate the level and the basis of the charge. Will the Minister say what progress is being made with the review?

On the long-term options for ATOL, we considered whether it should be scrapped altogether and replaced with private insurance. We concluded that that was not possible. Few insurance policies are available to provide the same level of protection, and the Government cannot avoid their responsibility swiftly to repatriate people stranded abroad because a travel firm has failed. The EU package travel directive requires the UK to provide a financial protection scheme for holidaymakers.

Nevertheless, there is scope for further reform, particularly when the scheme’s deficit has been cleared. In the Committee’s view, a reformed scheme must distinguish clearly between financial protection for consumers, which might sometimes be covered by private insurance, and repatriation, which is unavoidably an issue for the Government. The scheme should be industry funded, not reliant on Government guarantees as at present, and perhaps it should be managed by the industry. Consumers should have a greater say in deciding what is covered, and there should be more research on what consumers want. There must be more clarity and more public information, so that consumers are clear about when they are covered and when they are not. The Committee would like the cost per booking to come down, and be proportionate to the price of the package. If that were done, much of the controversy about the scheme might fade away.

In recent years, the internet has enabled some people to bypass travel agents and tour operators, and to put together their own package holidays. The ATOL scheme has not kept pace with that development. It has run into financial difficulties, and there is now confusion about who is covered by the scheme and who is not. The Committee welcomes the Government’s steps for reform, but there is much more to be done. I look forward to hearing about further proposals for change.

The nature of the leisure industry and holiday bookings has changed. Travel protection needs to reflect those changes and consumers’ needs. The Department has started to address that, but a great deal more needs to be done, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister what steps are being taken, and what the Government’s plans are.

[Hywel Williams (in the Chair)]

I call Jim Fitzpatrick.

A11 (Dualling)

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Westminster Hall

[Elizabeth Truss]

I shall continue to press my case. Infrastructure in this country has lost out in current spending, and we have all paid the price for that in economic growth held back. I will certainly put the case that infrastructure projects, as part of the capital budget, should be prioritised if they deliver such economic benefit. Clearly, the best option would be for the scheme to be approved under the road budget, and we look to the Minister to consider that as part of the comprehensive spending review.

As my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk said, the A11 dualling from Thetford to Fiveways is not just another road project. It is a very important project that will free up a huge amount of business resource, energy and entrepreneurship across East Anglia and help drive growth across the region. We are not asking for handouts in Norfolk. We are a county that delivers jobs, 72% of which are in the private sector, and we are a net contributor to the overall tax pot. What we want is our fair share of infrastructure spending to ensure that we can carry on delivering those economic benefits into the future.

[Hywel Williams (in the Chair)]

Order. As a number of new Members are in the Chamber, may I remind them of three points? First, they need not touch the microphones; they will come on automatically. Secondly, no reference should be made to members of the public or members of the press being present. Thirdly, irrespective of the obvious infectious enthusiasm for the A11, there should be no applause.