HS2: Cost

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Wednesday 24th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, given that the previous chairman of HS2 said in his evidence to the Economic Affairs Committee inquiry that no one knew what the costs of HS2 would be, and that his successor has now said that there will be a considerable increase in the cost, can my noble friend guarantee that, should the section from London to Birmingham overrun its costs, the proposals for the north of England will remain ring-fenced and that the additional routes in the north will not be cancelled because of the overrun on stage 1?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

As I have already tried to explain, the costs are still under review and being finalised. I am certainly not able to give the assurance that my noble friend is after as to the routes in the north because complex rail developments such as these are interrelated and the true benefits—the true value for money for the taxpayer—is achieved only when they are built as one system.

Railways: Newcastle and Edinburgh

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Monday 24th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

We do not know what the Williams review is going to say on that or indeed any other point, but it will be a root-and-branch review of the entire system so that we can create a railway system fit for the 21st century and build up a blueprint of how our future on the railway will look. The review will look at reforms to the structure of the industry as well as to the commercial model within which it operates. Some 600 responses have been made to the call for evidence, so noble Lords will understand that it will take quite a while to go through them all. As regards the new services on the east coast main line, that was an open process conducted between 2014 and 2015. The operator has been granted track access rights from 2021 to operate those services.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend has answered a series of Written Questions from me about services from Edinburgh to London by air. Does she think it is reasonable for British Airways to charge economy-class fares of more than £600 for a return journey to Edinburgh on planes that are absolutely full—so full, in fact, that the Convenor was not able to get here today?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I thank my noble friend for his Questions on this issue. As I have said to him previously, air travel in this country is subject to a competitive market and certain services will necessarily cost more than others. Where there is not a sufficient service, the Government will step in and provide support, but that is obviously not the case on the Edinburgh route.

Brexit: European Union’s No-deal Continuity Arrangements

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Thursday 13th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

Unfortunately, I do not recall the Government’s response to the noble Lord of 6 February. Discussions of tariffs are slightly beyond the original scope of the Question, but we expect the EU’s most favoured nation tariff regime to apply to the UK if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Noble Lords are also aware that this will result in the introduction of tariffs on 60% of current UK exports to the EU.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, given that all the leading contenders for the leadership of the Conservative Party have made clear that it is important the European Union understands that we are prepared to leave without a deal if we cannot get a sensible agreement, would it not be sensible for the Government to publish, for each department, what plans are in place, how they need to operate and what future additions will be required?

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Tuesday 7th May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I thank the noble Baroness for a number of questions there. I disagree with her that growth is not rapid. We are the second-largest market for electric vehicles in Europe. I believe that the rollout to date has been very successful. For example, within the last 30 days 1,000 charge points have been introduced. The noble Baroness spoke about local authorities and we support the work they are doing. There is no more funding available but we are encouraging the private sector to step up and, with £400 million in the charging infrastructure investment fund, we believe that it will.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, would it not be a good idea for Parliament to give an example to the rest of the country? We have 487 parking spaces between this House and the other place, and I am told there are two charging points in the House of Commons and three more promised for Royal Court. How can we expect the country to take us seriously if we cannot put our own house in order?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I completely agree with my noble friend that we need more charging points within the House. I certainly used to drive but I do so no longer. I use public transport and I encourage all noble Lords to do the same.

Brexit: No-deal Ferry Contracts

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Wednesday 1st May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I would like to focus on the first of those questions: what exactly was the benefit to the taxpayer? The benefit was that the taxpayer had an insurance policy. Like many organisations, the Government are able to take out insurance policies, and these contracts were precisely that. The benefit to the taxpayer is that the Government were able to ensure the continued movement of absolutely critical goods—what we call “class 1 goods”—into this country in the event of no deal. I am fairly sure that the noble Lord would have been the first to criticise the Government had these goods not got through.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

Following my noble friend’s analogy, can she explain why we have given up the insurance policy before we have the certainty of knowing that we will not have no deal? Can she also tell us what the total cost to the taxpayer has been of our failure to leave on 29 March?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is right that this particular insurance policy falls away because these were six-month contracts, and now that we have the extension to 31 October the contracts are obviously not needed. These contracts are very visible, but they are actually an extremely small proportion of our no-deal planning. A total of £4 billion has been put in place as an insurance package to make sure that, in the event of no deal, which remains the legal default, we will be able to protect our citizens.

Disposable Cups Ban

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Monday 21st May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My Lords, it is right that the Government and indeed Parliament should lead by example. Defra has already removed all single-use plastic cups from the department and new catering services have no single-use plastics at all. I know that the FCO is following suit. Moreover, we can use the greening government commitments to deliver on and report progress across central government. I am sure that noble Lords will be pleased to see that the Parliamentary Estate is also committed to removing all avoidable single-use plastics.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that the Government’s policy on the throw-away culture does not extend to neckties?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My Lords, I think that we may need to look at our customs in the Chamber.

Unpaid Internships

Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Monday 18th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My Lords, as I have already mentioned, during the time that this legislation has been in place there have been 14 prosecutions and, as I said, those were for the most pernicious and serious cases. We tend to choose the civil route so that people can get their funding much quicker. However, there is one other way in which we can ensure that employers step up to the plate and stop exploiting workers: only last week we named and shamed an additional 260 companies across the country that are not doing right by their workers. I do not know whether noble Lords have had a chance to look through their local media, but I have recently, and it is interesting to note how often local media pick up these stories and ensure that people in their local communities understand what their local companies are doing.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, can the Minister explain to me the difference between an internship and work experience? Will she go out of her way to praise those employers who give young people the opportunity to have work experience, which is so important in order to gain employment in the current market?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My noble friend gets to the heart of the matter because this is about social mobility. We have to ensure that placements are available; for example, people who are on work experience placements as part of a university degree are not liable to the minimum wage in those circumstances because those places would not exist if that requirement were not needed. We must pay tribute to all companies that take young people and give them the confidence to proceed in their career as they want to do.