Access to Ports

Louise Ellman Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op)]

I am pleased to have this opportunity to debate the Transport Committee’s recent report, “Access to Ports,” which was published in November. Ports are essential to the UK’s economy. About 95% of UK cargo movement by tonnage is waterborne. Ports collectively employ about 120,000 people. Whether large or small, ports are affected by the quality of transport links to their hinterlands, whether that involves road, rail, inland waterways or coastal shipping. No matter how modern and efficient the infrastructure is inside the port gates, ports cannot function if hauliers and logistics firms struggle to get goods in and out of them. Equally important is access to ports from the sea. Many ports depend on the dredging of channels of sufficient depth to accommodate visiting ships. That is particularly important as container ships continue to grow in size. The newest container ships can transport up to 18,000 20-foot containers.

Earlier in this Parliament, we expressed disappointment that the Government were not focusing more strongly on the connectivity of the UK’s international gateways, including marine ports. Since then, I am pleased to say, the Department for Transport has placed increasing emphasis on transport infrastructure as an “engine for growth” and has announced a number of transport schemes, some of which relate to ports.

The Select Committee decided to have a closer look at this issue, in view of its importance. We heard evidence from a wide variety of organisations as part of our inquiry. We visited Felixstowe—the UK’s biggest container port—and the new development at London Gateway, which is now open for business. We also visited the port of London at Gravesend and the facilities at Hull. We heard a presentation from Peel Ports on the Atlantic Gateway project, including Liverpool SuperPort. That focuses on ports and infrastructure along the River Mersey and the Manchester ship canal, as part of the north-west’s regeneration.

Connectivity is vital. Two issues about port access were raised during our inquiry. They related to both road and rail networks. First, we were told that many ports suffered from a lack of access in the final few miles to the port gates. That is one of the issues for Liverpool, but it is all too frequent around the country. Felixstowe was served only by a single-track branch line. Hutchison Ports, which operates Felixstowe, told us of the difficulty of balancing passenger and freight needs. I am pleased to say that that line has now been expanded.

The second issue relates to how the UK’s strategic road and rail networks accommodate freight transport. Many business groups have argued for the A14 in Cambridgeshire to be upgraded. It is an important route for road freight travelling to and from Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich, as well as London and Dover. The current Government cancelled the upgrade planned in the last Parliament. It was then reinstated, but with a controversial tolled section. The Government have now abandoned that tolling. Can the Minister let us know the current position in relation to the A14? When will road improvements there actually begin?

There are also numerous proposals to enhance the rail network to facilitate freight traffic, and those are very welcome. They include new inland terminals to handle retail commodities, a route through the Pennines suitable for freight traffic, more electrified lines and enhanced services. Transport for London told us about the pressures created on the rail network in north London by strong growth in both passenger and freight demand and called for a rail freight bypass of the capital in the long term. Progress is being made, and I hope that we can soon visit Reading station to see how freight traffic and passenger traffic are being separated. However, a lot more could be done.

It is vital that ports secure better connectivity. Knowing whom to approach is often problematic. Structures and funding arrangements for local and regional infrastructure have changed significantly in recent years and continue to evolve. From 2015, transport funding will be subsumed into a new single local growth fund. Local enterprise partnerships will decide how the money is spent. That change is causing great uncertainty. For example, the United Kingdom Major Ports Group described the new arrangements as

“complex and not easy to understand”.

I ask the Department to be more active in ensuring that the necessary priority is given to schemes providing access to ports; their wider regional and national significance should be recognised. It should act as an advocate, helping the sector to navigate complex arrangements for getting important transport schemes off the ground. The Department should also be prepared to challenge decisions made by local enterprise partnerships and other bodies if they fail to prioritise improvements in port access over other, less strategically important schemes. In other words, we are asking the Department to show more leadership in enabling ports to improve their connectivity.

In reply to our report, the Department said that there were

“encouraging signs that most of those LEPs which include major port facilities are well aware of those ports’ national…and regional importance.”

It said that it would, however,

“be ready to challenge LEPs should it appear that they have insufficiently prioritised port access.”

I welcome that, but I want to press the Minister to take a greater leadership role. Will ports have an advocate in Government to ensure that action is taken to deliver connectivity? That is vital; I cannot emphasise its importance too much.

The Select Committee also considered the question of who pays for transport measures needed to accommodate port expansion. The picture is confused. In theory, ports pay for those measures. If there is benefit to the wider community from the transport improvements, the Government make a contribution. However, the guidance on evaluating the Government contribution has never been applied. In practice, private sector funding of infrastructure linked to ports seems to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Ports argued strongly that they should not have to contribute towards infrastructure. They stated that major European ports were not expected to pay for transport improvements outside their gates and argued that those different rules put the UK at a disadvantage in a fiercely competitive market. New guidance is required on funding access improvements. There should be a presumption that significant access improvements and particularly improvements to strategic networks will be publicly funded, because of their wider economic benefits. However, that should not preclude ports from contributing to local transport infrastructure improvements, following local discussions with the appropriate bodies.

The Department did not agree with the Committee on this issue, but accepted that a lack of understanding of the Government’s policy could deter investors. Can the Minister tell us when new guidance on the issue will be published? Given that he is not prepared to change his policy—that is what we were told in the response to our report—can he explain how the situation envisaged by the new guidance will be different from the existing situation? It was clear to the Committee as we conducted our inquiry, listened to the representations and visited ports that it is a crucial issue.

I welcome the Government’s high-level strategy for ports and the new shipping strategy. The Committee’s report on this issue was published yesterday, and in some ways the two reports go together. Both strategies must be developed with more specific actions and time scales if they are to have any practical significance. The Committee will continue to pay attention to all these issues. The Government strategy commits the Department to working with industry

“to ensure coastal shipping can develop to its full potential”.

That is a particularly important aspiration, because coastal shipping has declined in recent years. It could help to relieve congestion on road and rail networks and rejuvenate smaller ports. The Government must do more to support it. In particular, the waterborne freight grant has been ineffective, with no grants issued in recent years. The Department told us that it was considering reforming the grant without infringing EU state aid rules. Is the Minister committed to finding a way of supporting increased take-up of support for coastal shipping? To back coastal shipping, will a new grant scheme be in place from next year, when the current scheme must be replaced? When it is replaced, will there be something better in its place, and will the sector be able to access that successor scheme?

The Government must also address concerns about planning. It was clear to us during our inquiry that there are major questions about the complexity of the current planning system, which was described to us as complex, flawed and unduly time-consuming. It was suggested that planning law over-emphasised environmental concerns at the expense of economic growth. The Department told the Committee that it understood those concerns and continues actively to seek ways to streamline procedures for applicants and other interested parties. Will the Minister give some examples of how the Department will make the planning system more positive for ports and clarify it?

Our ports are a vital part of our nation’s economic infrastructure. If the UK’s container ports are not competitive, container ports from Asia will not stop here. We will be reliant on secondary trade from European ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg, adding to import and export costs and costing the UK jobs. Inadequate inland road and rail connections too often restrict development. I recognise the positive changes that the Department has made in recent times, but it could more actively engage with ports and remove constraints on development caused by inadequate transport infrastructure. I hope that the Minister can reassure us that those issues are at the heart of the Department’s strategy.

The Committee will maintain its interest in all those issues during the next few months, beginning next Monday in our imminent inquiry into the Government’s draft national policy statement on national networks. Ports are important to our national and regional economy. I hope that the Minister can tell us what further leadership he will display to ensure that improved connectivity boosts ports’ contribution to our economic activity, whether that be for the country as a whole or for our regions across the UK.

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[Mrs Ellman]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Brooke. The importance of the issue has been shown by the well-informed contributions of so many hon. Members, including reference to the significance of Felixstowe and smaller ports such as Fleetwood and to the need to promote ports right across the UK.

The Minister’s apology is fully accepted. I thank him for his full response. Essentially, the issue is about leadership and about recognising the importance of connectivity to ports, to enable them to maximise their economic potential for the country and for the region in which they are located. Today’s debate has contributed, but it will be an ongoing discussion.

Question put and agreed to.