Rail Performance
Luke Charters Excerpts(1 week, 6 days ago)
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Louise Haigh
I will look into the issue for the right hon. Gentleman. It may be that the Rail Minister has to make himself a hero; I will ask him to meet the right hon. Gentleman to discuss the matter.
Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)
They say that money doesn’t grow on trees, but apparently it flies out the window for £100 million bat caves. Does my right hon. Friend agree that HS2 should apologise for its fur-brained scheme? How can we quickly learn the lessons to ensure good taxpayer value for money as HS2 continues?
Louise Haigh
I was absolutely horrified, on entering the Department, to learn that there had been no routine ministerial oversight, in any sense of the word, of HS2 for some time. We immediately established a cross-ministerial taskforce, comprising me and the Treasury, to oversee HS2’s costs. I have written to the chair to make it clear that, beyond safety, his first and abiding priority is to bring down costs. I have commissioned a governance review, led by James Stewart. We will look at the structure of HS2 Ltd, which has been too much at arm’s length, and too free to spend taxpayers’ money for too long.
Bus Franchising
Luke Charters Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)
It was interesting to hear the Opposition Front-Bench spokesperson talk about the importance of preserving existing bus routes, when their party had presided over 14 years when thousands of bus services were lost to communities across the country, including in my constituency, where we still do not have a direct bus route from Nantwich to our local hospital. It has taken this Government just 10 weeks to present a plan to fix local bus services. Does that not epitomise how underserved our communities and local economies have been by 14 long years of Conservative government?
Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)
It was great to visit the First Bus all-electric depot in York the other week, but I was saddened to hear just days later that First had withdrawn children’s monthly bus passes. After meeting representatives of the company, they are reviewing that decision, but does my hon. Friend agree that travel to and from school should be affordable? Will he meet me to discuss the future of buses in York?
Simon Lightwood
Of course I want to make sure that bus fares are affordable. I will meet my hon. Friend to discuss his particular circumstances.