Old Oak Common Station

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) for securing this debate. As we have heard from cross-party colleagues, there is understandable worry and concern about current and upcoming work. This is an important issue; the disruption is impacting the lives of millions of people, and it is good that we can shine a spotlight on it today.

I start by outlining why, however, this is clearly a positive in many ways. After years of neglect by the Conservatives, it is clear that our public transport is not in a fit state, and nowhere is that more keenly felt than our railways. Therefore, notwithstanding what we have heard, and the overspending and mismanagement, HS2 and the associated work at Old Oak Common are an increasing but welcomed rarity. A new rail project of that size is needed and should be lauded for building the vital infrastructure that we need. The new station, when built, will provide a vital interchange that west London is currently lacking. Old Oak Common is vital for us to achieve the full range of economic benefits of HS2 and it will form a vital transport hub for millions of journeys, including those for future passengers from the west of Wales.

The impacts that the project will have on people’s lives and the economy in the meantime should not be overlooked, and we have heard the real concerns of hon. Friends, particularly those representing constituencies in the south-west and Wales. My hon. Friends the Members for Frome and East Somerset (Anna Sabine), for Cheltenham and for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) talked about the widespread disruption. That is a real issue and we need the Government to see what they can do to address it. My hon. Friend the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt) spoke about the effect on tourism in Glastonbury and on the economy. How are we going to mitigate those things? My hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) spoke about the resentment out there at the failure to invest for many years in the south-west and in Wales. We must address the inadequate service and the failure to invest. My hon. Friend the Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) and the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) spoke about the inadequacy of the mitigation fund—£30 million is not enough. Can more be put there, and can more be done with it?

My hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) spoke about the failure to carry out electrification. We need to electrify more of those rail lines. My hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) and the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) talked about the failure to invest in railways in Wales. That is a problem that has gone on for years and years—a constant failure to invest in Welsh railways. We need to do more.

The Department for Transport must keep a very close eye on this project, for all those reasons. With work taking place in such a vital part of the Great Western Railway mainline, we cannot afford greater disruption than is already planned. In fact, we need to minimise it. While we all accept that disruptions caused by the construction are inevitable, it is essential that the Government show us that they doing all they can to minimise them. To ease disruption, changes need to be clearly communicated with the full arsenal of resources, from noticeboards to social media. We as MPs, and other elected officials, have communication channels of our own. We should play our part in ensuring that constituents know when disruption will occur. That requires the Government and the Department for Transport to talk to us, and communicate in good time all the things that will happen and the delays that will occur.

As the hon. Member for South West Devon said, we must strengthen the delay repay scheme to compensate for disruptions, while also ensuring that ticket prices reflect the disruption to services. Customers should not have to pay the same price for a journey that has been impacted by these works. Given the disruption, it is important to maximise the utility of Old Oak Common station by ensuring that it connects to Chiltern main line services, and on to the newly named Mildmay line. As the hon. Member said, we must maximise the potential of Old Oak Common and ensure that it is fully exploited, particularly in connections with London.

There is a lot to be done and, to mix my metaphors horribly, it will not all be plain sailing. Public confidence in this project has been undermined by various management mishaps and overspends, and the planning mistakes that were so articulately mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover). But as he said, we are where we are. The loss of confidence now extends well beyond HS2, with widespread public scepticism about the UK’s ability to manage any infrastructure projects. I feel that that will only get worse unless the industry uses this opportunity to prove itself.

Ensuring that this project is well managed, on time and clearly communicated is key not only to minimising disruption and reducing the economic impact, but to rebuilding public trust in large-scale infrastructure projects across the UK. We must begin tackling other failings in our transport network, including the unacceptably poor provision of transport in Wales and the west. That is why it is critical that the open access rights that FirstGroup recently purchased for Carmarthen to London Paddington services are protected under rail nationalisation, and why the Government must invest in other railway schemes in the south-west, the midlands railways hub, and the north Wales main line.

Let us be clear: the Liberal Democrats and I support building infrastructure, ensuring that our railways receive the vital investment they need. However, we must remember that these projects are ultimately for passengers, who should always be at the centre of the decision-making process. Disruption is inevitable, but passengers and politicians must be convinced that it is being kept to a minimum.

Improving Public Transport

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

I commend the hon. Member for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard (Alex Mayer) on her excellent maiden speech, and congratulate her on having the oldest road in her constituency—and doubtless, the oldest potholes as well.

I also commend my hon. Friends the Members for Horsham (John Milne), for Guildford (Zöe Franklin), for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) and for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) and the hon. Members for Swindon North (Will Stone), for Stroud (Dr Opher), for Leeds South West and Morley (Mr Sewards), for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) and for East Thanet (Ms Billington), who spoke with one voice on the dire state of public transport in many of our rural areas. I agree with my friend, the hon. Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons): before becoming transport spokesman, I did not realise how lucky we were in London. Although our constituents have legitimate complaints at times, we do not know how lucky we are. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke), and I echo her question to the Minister regarding the disruption to commuters from the south-west caused by the HS2 works on Old Oak Common. What can be done to minimise that disruption?

As we have heard from colleagues across the House, the current state of public transport simply is not good enough. Ticket prices are too high, services are too unreliable, infrastructure is too old and capacity is too meagre—and that is just for those who have access to public transport. Too many parts of our country have no meaningful access to public transport whatsoever. After years of routes being cut and timetables being foreshortened, many people no longer have access to a regular bus service despite living many miles distant from any rail network. This is hampering our economy, holding back local communities and damaging our high streets. Our public transport system should be the engine of growth and opportunity, not an impediment to them. If we are to reach the Government targets on economic growth and net zero we must take rapid and urgent steps to improve our public transport provision. We simply do not have time to tarry.

Let me be clear: my party and I have huge sympathy for the Minister, the Secretary of State and the Government. Everyone knows they inherited a mess from the previous regime’s chaos and missed opportunities. Years of under-investment, chopping, changing and rudderless leadership have left our public transport in turmoil, and I appreciate and publicly acknowledge the new Government’s worthy intentions and evident desire to improve the situation.

My party consequently welcomes the Government’s commitment to long overdue rail reform. I am glad to see the first green shoots of positive change. Ensuring HS2 reaches Euston in the first phase of the project is critical to achieving tangible benefits from what was in danger of becoming an expensive folly, while recent talk of an integrated national transport strategy shows that this Government appreciate that something needs to change.

We welcome the recent announcements on buses, too; as we have heard today from so many colleagues, they are critical to many areas—we know you get it. As hon. Friends so eloquently argued, despite buses being the most utilised form of public transport in the country, they are regularly not given the attention or funding they deserve, so thank you for that.

So far so good, then. However—there is always a “however”—although the Department for Transport is onside, I am not so sure that the Chancellor is, with her real-terms cuts to the Department’s day-to-day and capital budgets. If she is serious about growing the economy, she needs to be serious about properly funding the transport system on which it is built, rather than cutting budgets and making up the shortfall by hiking bus fares by up to 50% and an above-inflation increase in the cost of travel by train.

[Ms Billington]

The hon. Gentleman was not in his place at the time, and indeed neither was I, but it is worthwhile looking at the verdict of another transport nerd, a journalist from the Transport Times, back in 2015, who looked at exactly what happened when the Liberal Democrats did have an opportunity to do something about rural buses:

In county after county, cuts in rural bus service support have been severe. City deals may have been welcomed, but the idea that local government might be trusted to raise its own funding and decide on priorities has slipped further into the mists of history.

I just think it is worth reminding the House of that fact.

[Mr Kohler]

We are talking about now, and we are talking about the fact that you have reduced the bus fare cap.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order—[Interruption.] Order. Just a quick reminder that when I am on my feet, Members should not be.

That is third time the hon. Gentleman has said “you”; perhaps he will be a bit more careful in the rest of his speech.

[Mr Kohler]

Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We are talking about now, and we are talking about the hike in the bus fare cap to £3. It would cost only £150 million to keep it at £2 according to the House of Commons Library. I thank the Minister for writing to me this week to confirm that a full monitoring and evaluation report has been completed by his Department and will be published in due course, but why is it not being published now? If it is there, we want to see it—what does it say?

I do not doubt the battles the Minister and his colleagues are having with their colleagues in the Treasury. I know the Department for Transport recognises there are fundamental problems across our public transport system. However, there is still vanishingly little detail on which to form a judgment as to whether it has hit on the right solutions.

On the railways, for example, yesterday came the long-awaited announcement of the first three train operating companies to be brought back into public ownership. South Western Railway, which I used in my journey this morning, will come into public ownership next May. That much is known. However, what is not known is how that in itself will improve the customer experience and the service offered. As Great British Railways will still not formally exist by then, South Western Railway will, at least temporarily, be left in the hands of the Government’s operator of last resort, which surely needs more than a name change as it assumes responsibility for millions of extra journeys without a clear mission or purpose, without the necessary resource or expertise, without an effective passenger watchdog and without meaningful reform of our broken fares system. Even when Great British Railways arrives at the station, we still have no understanding of how—or even if—this new behemoth will proceed smoothly along the track.

Uncertainty also shrouds many other public transport plans. Too many local authorities are waiting to know what funds and schemes will be maintained and what will be scrapped, stifling investment and leaving too many areas and communities adrift, as we can see with the lack of certainty over the northern powerhouse, the electrification of north Wales rail, levelling up and active travel. That is why we welcome talk of an integrated national transport plan, as it is clear that the current piecemeal approach is letting down communities and local economies. But the devil will be in the detail, which we need to see sooner rather than later.

Uncertainty likewise surrounds the Government’s approach to rebuilding our decaying infrastructure. To improve our public transport, we need to get spades into the ground, invest money and effort into electrification and, most importantly, build new infrastructure. While there is widespread public disquiet regarding our current public transport provision, there is also deep scepticism about, and often outright opposition to, the major infrastructure projects necessary to achieve real improvement.

HS2’s repeated cost overspends and missed deadlines have contributed to an environment in which the public are rightly sceptical about the UK’s ability to deliver infrastructure on time and within budget. We need to get real. While Bruce Wayne might be rich enough to spend £100 million on a bat shed, the British taxpayer is not. The UK does not have the time or resource required to put every rail line in a tunnel.

Politicians across the political spectrum need to promote a more mature dialogue to improve public understanding of the trade-offs necessary to improve public transport. As we have seen with other large-scale infrastructure projects, once they are built, the public reception is overwhelmingly positive, as it was with Crossrail 1. The benefits of the Elizabeth line are already being lauded from Reading to Romford, with protests long forgotten. A host of neighbouring MPs called for its extension to their constituencies in a recent Westminster Hall debate that I attended.

So let us be honest about what needs to be done and what the Government have learned from these projects. Let us maintain a steady pipeline of new projects to ensure that the billions spent acquiring that knowledge, along with the supply chains and skilled workforce we have built up, are not lost.

Too much time has been wasted, and we do not have time to waste. Public transport is vital to our economy, to widening opportunity and our transition to net zero. As a Londoner, I realise that I am blessed by the public transport system that we have in the capital. Despite sometimes justified criticism of Transport for London, it stands as an exemplar of what can be achieved via a co-ordinated transport strategy and a non-ideological approach to ownership, working with both public and private providers to create an integrated transport network. As we heard from colleagues across the House, the situation is very different across much of the country. I hope that the Secretary of State and the Chancellor are both listening.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

May I join others in expressing my party’s sympathy for the family, friends, colleagues and former constituents of John Prescott? He was a towering figure.

I welcome the Secretary of State’s comments on simplifying ticketing. That will doubtless help to get people back on to the railways. Affordability is also critical to increasing the use of public transport. Alongside her 50% hike in bus fares, the Chancellor buried on page 97 of the Budget an above-inflation rail fare increase of 4.6%. That kicks in from March 2025, just when we expect public ownership of the railroads to begin.

[Mr Speaker]

Ahem.

[Mr Kohler]

Now that the railways are coming under her guardianship, will the Secretary of State assure the House that that will be the last above-inflation rail fare increase in this Parliament?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Questions should be a bit shorter. I do not know who is doing your briefings—well, I suspect I do—but shorter questions would be helpful.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill yesterday. Northern Rail has been publicly owned for the past four years, running trains on tracks that have been publicly owned for more than two decades. Sadly, Northern Rail still has some of the worst cancellation and punctuality rates in the country. Can the Secretary of State tell us what she has learned from her Department’s experience with Northern Rail? What else is she planning beyond nationalisation to improve the rail network?

[Louise Haigh]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his party’s support in passing the public ownership Bill yesterday in the other place. He is right, and I have made clear to Northern Rail that its performance is not acceptable. We are addressing that through new agreements on rest-day working to drive down cancellations, and crucially through integrating operations with Network Rail to deliver savings and better performance.

Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Consideration of Lords amendments
Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

Our current railway system is simply not fit for purpose, and I know I speak for everyone in this Chamber when I say that has to change. If we are serious about growth, we have to get serious about rail. After years of Tory neglect, we must get our network back on track and put the passenger first. Across the world, there are examples of both publicly and privately owned train companies that do exactly that. Because of that, we need not be ideological about ownership; rather, we can take a pragmatic approach. That is why the Lib Dems have been, and remain, agnostic about the ownership model adopted.

As the Government have themselves admitted, nationalisation is not a silver bullet. It will not automatically deliver cheaper fares, a more reliable and frequent service, or a better passenger experience. While nationalisation might offer economies of scale, it comes with new dangers—those of us in this Chamber old enough to remember the travails of travelling on British Rail are unlikely to become misty-eyed at the prospect of going back to that future, although we might well shed a tear.

In short, nationalisation alone will not fix the mess that the Government inherited from the Conservatives. The devil, as so often, is in the detail, and I eagerly await publication of the forthcoming rail reform Bill, which we will scrutinise keenly to ensure that it does not succumb to the same demons that held back rail in this country for decades, whether it was in public or private hands.

Bus Funding

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement, which I warmly welcome. As she made clear, access to convenient, frequent and affordable buses is vital. They are critical to both employment and quality of life, particularly in rural areas. Sadly, however, too many parts of our country lack decent bus services, after years of Tory neglect. At a time when we desperately need economic growth, ensuring a comprehensive and affordable bus network is vital.

I congratulate the Secretary of State on securing the promised funding. However, we have some concerns. Uncertainty still surrounds how local authorities can seize the opportunities heralded in the promised changes to bus franchising. Furthermore, if, as the Secretary of State believes, buses are a lifeline for young and old, why is she hitting bus users with a 50% increase in fares? Polling commissioned by the Lib Dems and published last week showed that the hike will make a third of people less likely to use a bus, which will have a direct impact on individuals, communities, small businesses and high streets, and will hit the most disadvantaged in society the hardest. It would cost just £150 million a year to retain the £2 fare cap. Again, I ask her to reconsider.

I would like to ask the Secretary of State three specific questions. First, when will she publish the full impact assessment on the £2 bus fare cap, commissioned by her Department earlier this year? Secondly, will she guarantee that the new powers needed for local authorities to franchise bus services will be provided urgently, so that bus routes can be restored and new ones added as soon as possible? Lastly, although I welcome the change to the allocation process and the rejection of wasteful and expensive competitive bidding between councils, will she confirm that the new, more flexible system will not succumb to the temptations of pork barrel politics that we saw so frequently under the last Conservative Government?

[Louise Haigh]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those incredibly important questions. We have committed to publish the evaluation of the £2 bus fare cap shortly. We will introduce the better buses Bill in the coming weeks, which will allow every area of the country to avail themselves of the franchising powers and overturn the ideological ban on public ownership. My Department is also taking a much more proactive enabling role with local transport authorities, making sure that they have the capability and capacity to move to franchising. A significant amount of the funding settlement announced today is specifically for capability and staffing in local transport authorities.

Finally, on pork barrel politics, the reason behind today’s funding is that we are not in the business of picking winners and losers. We want to ensure that every corner of the country has the funding it deserves and the ability to avail itself of the style of buses that we have enjoyed in London for four decades.

Transport Infrastructure Projects: Elizabeth Line

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this important debate.

Despite some genuine issues, it is clear that the Elizabeth line has been a tremendous success. It was an engineering marvel, and one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe. Crossrail dug out 42 km of new tunnels in the centre of one of the biggest cities in Europe, weaving around existing underground tunnels, cable ducts, gas pipes and other utilities. The result? Economic growth and revitalised communities along the length of the line. Since opening, 60% of employment growth in Greater London has taken place within 1 km of an Elizabeth line station, as the hon. Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) said. The line has increased the capacity of the London underground by 10%, which is why passenger numbers on the underground have bucked the national trend by recovering to post-pandemic levels. Such success shows what happens when we are ambitious and invest in rail.

It is not just in London where the impact has been felt. As we have heard, towns in Essex and Berkshire now have direct links to central London and Heathrow, promoting investment and creating new opportunities from Reading to Romford. The construction of the Elizabeth line has also increased employment across the country. Crossrail awarded 62% of its contracts to firms outside of London, creating 55,000 new jobs, 1,000 apprenticeships and helping to keep rolling stock manufacturing in Derby, as so articulately described by the hon. Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson).

While the Elizabeth line shows the best of what transport infrastructure can do, it also shows some of the pitfalls. Management issues led to overspending and delays—something we have sadly become all too accustomed to with infrastructure projects in this country. In 2010, the project was forecast to cost £14.8 billion. By the end it had ballooned to £18.8 billion—clearly not in the same league as HS2, but still representing a 28% overspend. At a time when public finances are tight, it is simply not acceptable.

Like many rail projects, Crossrail showed a flexibility towards deadlines that would make even the most laid-back of my former students blush. I appreciate that rail passengers have become all too accustomed to delays, but waiting three-and-a-half years for a train is probably pushing it. As we embark on new infrastructure projects, it is vital that we understand what causes delays and cost overruns and learn lessons for the future.

In March this year, the Department for Transport and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority published their joint report into the lessons learned from Crossrail. The new Government must take heed of the recommendations to avoid another HS2. With talk of greater devolution and new public-private partnerships, the Government must take particular note of what the report says about the issues that arise from joint sponsorship of projects. Making sure that we get this right will be vital to ensuring that we build the infrastructure our country needs in years to come. The ongoing saga with HS2 has undermined public confidence in the UK’s ability to successfully complete infrastructure projects. If we are to get the full benefit of development, we must rebuild public trust and show that lessons have been learned—not just in transport, but in all infrastructure projects.

With many of our current lines at maximum capacity, we desperately need investment in our rail network to encourage rail freight, improve consumer choice and push forward the transition to net zero. We also need to replace existing infrastructure that has reached the end of its useful life. The District line in my constituency of Wimbledon is notorious for breakdowns, cancellations and delays. It needs investment urgently.

The key lesson from Crossrail is that when we invest and put spades in the ground, the impact can be transformative. Disappointingly, however, that lesson does not appear to have been fully learned by the current Government, although I suspect the Minister here today agrees with what I said in the main Chamber last week: if this Government are serious about economic growth, why did the Chancellor cut the transport budget?

Transport should be the engine of our economy. After years of neglect by the Conservative Government, the time has come to make the targeted investment that will make a difference to people’s lives. Yes, costs must be controlled—what happened with HS2, as the Secretary of State for Transport conceded in the main Chamber yesterday, is unacceptable. If we are to get this country moving again, we must learn from the Elizabeth line and give the transport network the infrastructure it needs.

Rail Performance

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. I also welcome the new shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Orpington (Gareth Bacon), to his position.

The Lib Dems welcome the Secretary of State’s statement that performance is improved, and commuters and businesses are relieved that industrial action has been curtailed. It is disappointing, however, that the unions were not required to agree any meaningful improvements to productivity as part of the settlement. Clearly, we are not yet out of the woods—or perhaps I should say the tunnel. Under the Conservatives, delays, cancellations and overcrowding became commonplace. Last year, more than 55,000 rush hour trains were either partly or fully cancelled—a 10% rise on the previous year, and the worst of any year since 2019. Although the latest news is welcome, there are many miles left to go on this journey. The Government’s policy of nationalisation is, as the Secretary of State herself concedes, no silver bullet. Earlier this year, the Office of Rail and Road found that four of the eight least reliable operators, with the highest cancellation rates, were public, while the three most reliable operators, with the lowest cancellation rates, were private.

I have three questions for the Secretary of State. First, what steps is she taking to ensure that the worst, rather than the best, private operators are nationalised first? Secondly, where a private operator’s performance is of a higher standard than that in the public sector, will she consider extending its contract? Finally, given the still shocking level of accessibility on much of the network, will she urgently provide an update on when the stalled Access for All programme will be back on track?

[Louise Haigh]

To confirm, we are working with the trade unions at the moment on productivity improvements. We are clear that some of the practices in place on the railways are not acceptable or fit for modern and efficient railways. In the pay deal, there was a side letter and agreement to work through training improvements, and we want to ensure that that is delivered. The previous Government’s approach meant that they not only failed to deliver any workforce reform improvements, but presided over the longest industrial dispute in our railways’ history, costing the taxpayer and passengers hundreds of millions of pounds.

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that cancellations are high in the publicly owned TOCs. That is a result not least of the fact that the ones that are in public ownership were already the worst performing, and we need to look at how they have improved under public ownership. The real benefits will be brought about under Great British Railways, when we will be truly able to integrate track and train and deliver those improvements. We will set out the schedule for bringing the private TOCs into public ownership once Royal Assent has been given to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, but the right balance must be struck between performance and return for the taxpayer, because we are spending hundreds of millions of pounds in dividend payouts and management fees.

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to mention the Access for All programme and accessibility, which has not been good enough under Network Rail. I am happy to write to him about specific stations in the programme.

Roadworks: Journey Times

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Lewis Cocking) for securing this important debate. I know from my own inbox and those of my colleagues that this impacts many of our constituents’ lives, work and businesses. Just this weekend in my own constituency, there has been large-scale disruption from roadworks. On the A3, which runs through Wimbledon, roadworks caused huge congestion not just in south-west London but across much of Surrey and Hampshire. It was particularly severe because the disruption was compounded by South Western Railway’s decision to cancel trains on the same route due to planned engineering works on the line, something to which I will return.

A lack of investment in our roads has left many in a dire state, with less than half the local road miles in England and Wales now classified as being in good structural condition. Urgent work to repair our roads is vital, particularly as delays in maintenance compounds the problems, leading to higher costs and greater disruption.

As transport spokesman, I am of course the most important person on the Lib Dem Front Bench as I am the lead on that staple of every Lib Dem Focus leaflet, the ubiquitous pothole. I consequently welcome the Chancellor’s announcement today of additional funding to fix potholes, as I know the Minister will as well. However, before we get carried away by this bounty, let us not lose sight of the fact that it comes against the backdrop of a real-terms cut to the Department for Transport budget, which I will cover in more detail in a subsequent Budget speech.

Clearly, the roadworks needed to fix such problems inevitably cause disruption to the road network, leading to longer journey times, which are not only frustrating but economically damaging. In 2021, National Highways estimated that delays on the strategic road network, of which at least 15% were due to roadworks, cost the economy around £3 billion a year.

It is therefore vital that when roadworks are planned, disruption to the wider network is minimised. That requires communication across the sector to co-ordinate matters. However, it is sadly all too apparent that there is a lack of joined-up thinking, and that there is too much fragmentation across our transport system to achieve that co-ordination. On the London to Portsmouth route last weekend, for example, it should surely have been possible to ensure that planned work on the A3 and the rail line did not coincide. That is the type of problem that we need to avoid. I trust that the Department for Transport’s promised long-term strategy addresses such issues.

In addition to roadworks to maintain and improve our roads, another source of delay, frustration and cost is street works: utility companies digging up our roads. There is a great deal of congestion in Wimbledon town centre at the moment. Wimbledon Hill Road is completely shut because of emergency work on a collapsed sewer, which is leading to major disruption to bus routes and traffic jams in surrounding roads, significantly increasing journey times in much of my constituency. Of course, an emergency is an emergency—I understand that—but it does not excuse utility companies not doing all they can to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum, as the hon. Member for Broxbourne said.

Companies are obliged to return the roads to the state in which they found them, but they often do not, as many people in my constituency know. Yes, utility companies can theoretically be fined up to £10,000 a day for delays, but many roads have fines capped at £250, and even that level of enforcement is problematic. The Lib Dems strongly believe that local authorities need to be given more powers to ensure that utility companies minimise the disruption they cause and do not act with impunity. The previous Government consulted on increasing their powers, including raising the level of FPNs that can be issued for certain street work offences and allowing overrun charges to apply at weekends and bank holidays, but the results were never published. The Minister has said that the results will be released in due course, and I hope that she might take this opportunity to tell us when that will be.

We all know that our road network is crucial to constituents and businesses. The Government could be doing more to keep the traffic flowing, people travelling and the economy growing.

Zero Emission Vans

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) on securing this important debate. As we have heard, the current state of the electric van roll-out is simply not good enough. We are way behind what is needed to meet the target of 100% electric vehicle sales by 2035. Currently, less than 2% of light goods vehicles are electric, while so far this year, little more than 5% of new registrations are electric. That is behind not just the Government’s zero emission vehicle mandate of 10%, but what is being achieved in comparable European countries, including, as we heard, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Things are not improving, with worrying signs that the industry is stagnating. Since July, new electric van registrations have fallen every month. As the Climate Change Committee outlined last week, urgent action is needed for us to meet our national defined contributions under the Paris agreement. There is no time to delay. Transport is still the largest single emitter of greenhouse gases in the UK, responsible for 26% of the UK’s total emissions in 2021. Decarbonisation of the sector is consequently critical to meeting our targets.

There is no doubt that the Government have inherited a mess. Broken promises and mixed messages from the previous Government discouraged businesses from the investment needed to transition to electric vehicles. Not only did the Conservatives roll back on some of the commitments they made, but they failed to keep the commitments they retained. In March 2022, the Government of the day set out a target for 300,000 public charge points across the UK by 2030. By the end of their term, only 60,000 had been built, way behind the rate of growth needed to meet their target.

However, the new Government cannot simply blame their predecessors. If they are serious about meeting our international commitments, urgent steps must be taken now. Currently, the charging network—particularly rapid charging—is too poor for many businesses to feel confident in investing in electric vehicles. That is exacerbated by the current market, with very few vans—less than 20% of the models available—having a range in excess of 200 miles. Even basic models cost far more than their petrol or diesel equivalents.

Admittedly, the Government cannot dictate to the market, but surely they can take steps to help the situation. Increasing the charging capacity across the network, with an increase in both on-street points and ultrafast chargers at service stations, is vital to increasing business confidence in EVs. Rapid chargers, in particular, are vital for businesses, which cannot afford to waste hours waiting for vehicles to charge.

We also need clarity on what support will be given to businesses converting to electric vans in the future. The Government currently give a plug-in van grant of up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for larger ones, but the subsidy is due to end next year. Will the Minister confirm that the scheme can be extended?

Vans are vital to our economy and employment, with one in 10 people relying on a van for their everyday work. In order to meet our climate commitments, the Government need to put their foot on the accelerator and work with businesses in transitioning to electric vehicles. Urgent steps are needed, and I hope the Minister will confirm that they are finally coming.

Driving Test Availability

Paul Kohler Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) on securing the debate. He and the other speakers have made excellent points.

As we have heard from Members across the House, it is taking far too long to secure a driving test, with centres fully booked up months in advance. Although the problem was exacerbated by covid, waiting lists were growing long before the pandemic, with 26 test centres axed since 2015. Yes, the lockdown made things worse, but things are still not improving and more should have been done by the previous Government to address the backlog.

As a result of the insufficient testing capacity within the system, as we have heard, a black market has arisen, with individuals forced to compete with bots to book the precious few slots available the moment they come online. My good friend Dino Muir, a driving instructor who covers Wimbledon, tells me that an increasing number of people are inevitably turning to those unscrupulous profiteers to beat the queues, and pay an extortionate price as a consequence. According to recent data from the RAC, people are paying over three times the normal price to book a driving test on the black market.

The situation is not limited to personal vehicles. My constituent George, a young junior doctor, told me yesterday of a friend of his, a newly trained paramedic, having to wait four months to take the C1 driving test that he needs to drive an ambulance. Data from my party recently revealed over 700 NHS staff across the country who, like George’s friend, are waiting to take that test. That is simply unacceptable. Providing driving tests in a timely manner should not be beyond any Government. Yes, they have inherited a failing system, but they now need to sort it out as these delays are affecting people’s lives and, as we have heard, damaging our economy.

In conclusion, I simply ask the Minister—I hope she knows that I hold her in high regard—what she is going to do to clear this backlog. Will more tests be made available, and will the Government do more to stop the bots booking up all the available slots? Urgent action is needed and I look forward to hearing her response.