East Birmingham Tram Line

Debate between Liam Byrne and Huw Merriman

Monday 26th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Huw Merriman)]

I thank the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne) for securing this debate and for his representations regarding transport services and growth opportunities in his constituency and the wider region. I pay tribute to him for the words he used—he has set out a great case for how transport can be an enabler to transform and regenerate areas that really do need it. His knowledge and expertise in this area speaks for itself, and I thank him for being an enabler of the HS2 project, for which I am very proud to be the Minister. He referred to the time when he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the work he did at that point. I can assure him that the Government are steadfastly committed to levelling up and empowering communities in the west midlands, and I want to talk about some of the ways that we are delivering that.

Let me begin by talking about local funding and opportunities. As the right hon. Member knows, the Government recognise the importance of transport to the people and economy of the west midlands, as demonstrated by the commitments made through the recent Trailblazer devolution deal. Our significant wider funding commitments also mark a further step in ensuring that we empower local leadership and enhance transport connectivity across the region.

Through the west midlands city region sustainable transport settlement, an unprecedented sum—more than £1 billion in capital funding—has been allocated to deliver projects and priorities which have been decided locally. For instance, West Midlands Combined Authority has earmarked £25 million of those funds to make significant improvements in bus services on the key A45 corridor in east Birmingham as part of its Sprint programme. The scheme will deliver new bus priority and journey time savings for passengers, linking people with opportunities in the city centre and Solihull and providing connections to Birmingham airport. The Department will work closely with stakeholders across the region to help ensure that schemes of this kind deliver economic growth and better transport experiences for local communities.

I am aware that the right hon. Member, and others, have called for an extension of the west midlands metro through east Birmingham to Solihull and Birmingham airport. As he will know, the metro route is already being extended eastwards as far as Digbeth, with backing of more than £131 million through the Government’s local growth fund programme. This scheme will serve the new Curzon Street station, helping to connect more of the region to the growth opportunities unlocked by HS2. I recognise the importance of the metro to the region, and I also recognise that light rail can be an attractive and environmentally friendly way of connecting people with jobs, education, healthcare and, indeed, each other in our largest towns and cities. While the Government are rightly investing in local transport networks across the country, local transport authorities retain responsibility for their delivery. The right hon. Member will appreciate that decisions on these proposals are devolved to the Mayor of the West Midlands, although I note his call for the Government to do the work that Governments can do to enable such proposals to reach their full potential.

It is crucial that local representatives, who know the challenges in their areas, are responsible for assessing the options available and ultimately deciding on the best way forward. I therefore encourage the right hon. Member—as well as pressing me, as he rightly does—to consult the Mayor about the proposals that he supports. He will know that Andy Street is a champion for transport throughout the west midlands, and frequently pushes me for more investment: he clearly shares the ambition to which the right hon. Member referred at the start of the debate. In his spring Budget statement, the Chancellor announced a second round of the city region sustainable transport settlements, providing areas across England with a further £8.8 billion over five years from 2027 to allow them to continue to develop transformational local transport improvements. That funding may represent an opportunity to develop the east Birmingham to Solihull metro proposals further, should the Mayor choose to do so.

Of course, I could not talk about transport in Birmingham without going into a little more detail about the opportunities for HS2. This new railway will change the economic geography of the whole country, bringing our biggest cities and economic regions closer together with reliable, low-carbon, high-capacity travel, and I take the right hon. Member’s point about its linking Birmingham not just with London—west London, that is, through Old Oak Common—but, via the new Elizabeth line, with Canary Wharf. It will provide enormous opportunities for businesses that are currently in London to extend their reach to Birmingham, and that is very much part of our ambition.

The Government are developing an HS2 local growth action plan which will outline the way in which we will continue to work with host station places to support their local growth ambitions. As the right hon. Member mentioned, around Curzon Street, in central Birmingham, HS2 will support thousands of new jobs—19,600, according to the latest estimate—and 2,200 additional homes. At the interchange station in Solihull, HS2 Ltd is working with local stakeholders on a brand-new, mixed-use development that will capitalise on its well-connected location. At Washwood Heath, HS2’s national control centre and maintenance depot, hundreds of new jobs in the railway sector will be created in east Birmingham. HS2 Ltd is committed to supporting further employment opportunities in the development area south of the depot through the release of land following its construction.

Mention has been made of surplus land at Washwood Heath and the question of when it will be released; I know that the right hon. Member has led the charge on that issue. I am advised that the design and extent of the environmental mitigation in the development area is still ongoing, but HS2 Ltd anticipates that the plan for the area will be submitted to Birmingham City Council for schedule 17 planning consent later this year.

I will conclude by addressing the right hon. Member’s three points. First, he spoke about a statement of principle and policy; I will write to him and provide as much detail as I can, which I hope will answer that call. Secondly, he asked whether I would meet him and other east Birmingham MPs so that ideas could be pitched; I should be delighted to meet them and will seek to do so at the earliest opportunity. Thirdly, he asked about support for Birmingham’s levelling-up bid and about matters relating to devolved taxation. He will know that it is not for Ministers in a spending Department to speak about such matters; in fact, in his previous role he would probably have been the first to give them a good ticking off for it. However, I will discuss the matter with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Treasury, and perhaps when I meet him I can provide him with any information that they give me.

[Liam Byrne]

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way, because I sense that he is about to conclude. The clear thing that we will need to discuss when we meet is how to ensure that the levelling-up zone maximises the opportunity of the High Speed 2 growth and opportunities plan. Between us, we must make sure that there is joined-up government.

[Huw Merriman]

I thank the right hon. Member for making that point. He is absolutely right. To continue to make the case for HS2—I will certainly do so, and I am grateful that he is doing likewise—we have to show that it really can maximise growth. We are very happy to take all ideas from Members of this House, and indeed from wider stakeholders, for how that can occur. Matters that are in the domain of other Departments will need to be decided on by those Departments, but I am certainly happy to feed ideas through and see what can be done.

I thank the right hon. Member for his continued engagement with HS2 and for raising the other matters that he has listed in relation to regenerating his constituency and the city that I know he loves. Significant funding has been and continues to be invested in delivering transformative local transport projects. My Department will continue to work with regional stakeholders to make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity and identify ways to improve transport links, drive economic growth and improve access to jobs, education, healthcare and leisure. I look forward to working with the right hon. Member, and with his colleagues nearby, on these shared priorities.

Question put and agreed to.

Education

Debate between Liam Byrne and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 20th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Although I have some reservations, which I will discuss, I warmly welcome the new guidance for the introduction of compulsory health, sex and relationships education. Of course, many schools already deliver the full suite of guidance to their pupils. These regulations will ensure that all do so.

Growing up is hard. The internet and social media can make it a cruel place. In my time at school, bullying was rife and the home was a place of refuge. With the online and social media world, there is no escape. We have to reinforce to young people that online activity can be a weapon. Knives cause physical violence; cyber-abuse causes mental violence. The results can be equally devastating. Lives are destroyed, and lives have been lost. We must ensure that our schools are getting the message across. I therefore welcome the focus on mental health and wellbeing, relationships and sex education, and the need to think of the feelings and sensitivities of others. I welcome the coverage afforded to issues such as discrimination, forced marriage, domestic and sexual violence, and addictions, and the emphasis on the need to have respect for oneself and every other person in class and celebrate differences.

There are a few areas on which I seek reassurance from the Front Bench. First, I disagree that parents of secondary school age children should be able to take pupils out of sex education classes. Quite frankly, young people who fall into that category probably need even more attention, because they are unlikely to be discussing these issues at home. I am pleased that the new curriculum will give a 15-year-old the right to opt in, thus taking the matter from the parent, but it concerns me that by this time there may not be time to get sufficient sex education classes, particularly with GCSEs being taken. I would like some reassurance that the entire sex education component will be covered in that shortened window.

Secondly, teacher workloads are increasing. When speaking on this matter before, I called for room to be found for a sex education and relationships curriculum, in preference to adding to existing workloads. I would like an assurance from the Minister as to how this education will occur. If the answer is that a large amount of time will not be taken, that in itself would be of concern to me, because I believe that the wellbeing of our young people requires that investment in time.

Thirdly, I understand the need to allow schools themselves to develop content, and I believe that it is often best when teachers use their own authentic approach and style to communicate these messages. However, I am concerned that schools will be put under pressure from parents to tone down the content or eradicate parts altogether. We have witnessed scenes where some in the Muslim community have put pressure on schools. Parkfield Community School has been the scene of weekly protests over lessons covering LGBT issues. The school is rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, which praises its record of promoting tolerance, acceptance and mutual respect. The school has now said that it will cease to teach its course until a resolution has been reached. That is absolutely appalling.

[Liam Byrne]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Huw Merriman]

No, I will not.

The resolution should have been a public spaces order ban on the protesters and fines for the parents who withdrew their children from school.

[Liam Byrne]

I am the local Member.

[Huw Merriman]

I will give way on that basis. I beg the right hon. Gentleman’s pardon.

[Liam Byrne]

That is not what Parkfield School has done. It has agreed to go into dialogue with parents to ensure that the Equality Act is taught. That is the fact of the position.

--- Later in debate ---

[Huw Merriman]

I am happy to take that correction, but as I looked through the reports, I saw that the content on that specific area had been taken down, and I felt that that was absolutely appalling. I will correct that if it turns out not to be the case, but the reality is that we have seen those weekly protests of people carrying—

[Liam Byrne]

rose—

[Huw Merriman]

Please let me continue. We have seen those weekly protests of people carrying placards, which has been a disgrace. I have a right to call that out, just as the right hon. Gentleman obviously has a right to comment as the local Member.

[Liam Byrne]

Let me correct the hon. Gentleman on a point of substance. The long-term curriculum plan of the school was set at the beginning of the year, and that is what the school continues to deliver. Of course the protests are unacceptable in terms of some of the abuse that has been hurled, and he is right to call that out, but I ask him please not to muddy this sensitive issue with facts that are incorrect.

[Huw Merriman]

I stand corrected, but I also stand by the point that content in a particular course had been taken down—I mentioned the reports—until this had been resolved, and I find that absolutely appalling.

[Liam Byrne]

indicated dissent.

[Huw Merriman]

Obviously the right hon. Gentleman is entitled to his opinion, but I ask him please to accept that in Parliament I am entitled to one, too.

This issue demonstrates to me that it is vital that schools feel supported by Government and MPs. We need to send a message out today that while schools have the choice on content, every school must deliver it, without exception. I would like a reassurance that we will ensure that there cannot be another Parkfield, and that the Government will insert their own content should it be found wanting.

These reservations should be put into context. Overall, this step forward is absolutely superb. We have moved on. I am really proud to be standing here and helping to deliver this initiative.