Cost of Living

Phil Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I want to address the transport rather than the energy aspect of today’s debate, and raise three issues that affect my constituency: the local airport, the big Hitachi investment, and the state of rural bus services not just in Sedgefield but throughout County Durham, including Darlington.

As local people know, Durham Tees Valley airport has gone through difficult times in the past few years, especially recently. Just three or four years ago, some 1 million passengers used the terminal. That figure has gone down significantly recently, but at an engagement at the airport a couple of weeks ago, it was good to see KLM making everybody aware of its ongoing commitment to the airport. Hopefully, at some point it will put some more routes on, or use the airport more often than it currently does.

I want to discuss the long-term sustainability of regional airports—I am pleased that the aviation Minister, the right hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), is in her place, and that she has agreed to a meeting next week—and air passenger duty. The latter is critical to the aviation industry in more ways than one, and to the passengers who have to pay it. It has gone up by twice the rate of inflation in the Budget. The aviation industry has told me that we need to look at regional variation of the APD. That does not mean varying it region by region, but having one rate for the south-east, where there is a lot of passenger congestion, and another for the rest of the country. Some would say, especially the Scottish National party, that we should devolve this matter to each of the devolved Administrations—Scotland and Wales, for example—but that is not the way forward. Devolving it to Scotland would impact on Durham Tees Valley airport and Newcastle airport. We need to gain the evidence for our approach. I am meeting a Treasury Minister on 18 June, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell), to discuss this matter and try to get an evidence base pulled together, so that we can say that having regional variation in air passenger duty will work.

I also wish to discuss Hitachi, which I always mention when I can because it provides a massive boost to the north-east economy; it is providing the biggest private sector investment in the north-east since Nissan. Hitachi is going to build a £90 million factory—a train-building facility—in my constituency at Newton Aycliffe. The company is going to refurbish the rolling stock for the east coast main line and for the great western line into Wales. Hitachi is going to create 500 jobs, with thousands in the supply chain. This will be one of the most exciting industrial stories that we have in the north-east of England. I congratulate the Government on making the right decision on it and I pay tribute to the previous Labour Government, whose idea it was in the first place.

The big issue I want to talk about, which is really affecting not only my area but all rural areas, is the state of rural bus services. The Sedgefield constituency covers about 150 square miles and contains about 30 to 40 towns and villages, some of which are very small. Brafferton, for example, has a population of only about 200, whereas Newton Aycliffe has a population of 20,000-odd. There is a lack of rural bus services and subsidies that have gone to local authorities have been cut. The subsidies are then withdrawn from bus companies such as Arriva, the big one in our area, and if they do not get the subsidies, the bus does not run. Sometimes that happens without the local people having been consulted, so they find that their bus does not turn up at their bus stop because the service has been pulled off the road and nobody has bothered to tell them.

The situation is creating problems in the area. For example, people are having difficulty getting to work. We have actually had to write to the local jobcentre and the Employment Minister to say, “If someone cannot get to work any more and they pack in their job, what does that mean for their benefits? It is not their fault that they have had to resign their job, so will they still not get benefits for six months?” I have been told that this would be looked at on a case-by-case basis, but the local jobcentre has pointed out to me that it has actually considered buying bicycles to get people to work because of the state of the local bus services. It seems to me that we are going back not to Victorian times but to mediaeval times in respect of the state of transport in the area. A sophisticated society such as ours must be able to put on adequate bus services for people.

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

I, too, represent a semi-rural constituency, where bus services, and school buses in particular, are becoming a real issue. Just last week, a mum contacted me about the removal of the school bus in Bagthorpe. Getting children to school is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Should not Ministers take that on board?

[Phil Wilson]

Ministers do need to take that on board, because the state of bus services is not just an issue about people getting to work, getting to see their family or getting to medical appointments; it is also an issue for schoolchildren and their parents.

[Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)]

This issue is having an impact on every rural and semi-rural constituency across this country and it is having an impact on our future. Young people are now telling me that they are choosing courses on the basis of where they can get to, not on the basis of what the right course is for them or for the future economy of this country.

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[Phil Wilson]

These are all issues to address. Ultimately, they are not just about bus services; they come down to the effect on society in rural areas. People living in rural areas should have the same rights as those who live in urban areas, which on many occasions have adequate transport facilities.

I wish to discuss one or two villages in my area. Hurworth, Sadberge and Brafferton are all in the Darlington borough, and my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mrs Chapman), who is in her place, wishes to discuss these same issues, as they are affecting our communities in that borough. For example, Sadberge has lost its shop, its post office and its school, and from the end of the year it will lose its bus service, too. At a surgery there two or three weeks ago, I was told by a disabled person who works at Lingfield Point in Darlington, “If that bus route is withdrawn, I do not know how I am going to get to work, unless I hire a taxi.” We all know that going by taxi is a very expensive way of getting to and from anywhere, never mind just using it to get to work.

Brafferton is, as I have said, a very small community, containing 60 to 70 houses and perhaps 100-odd people. I have been contacted by Mrs Firby, who lives in that village, and I want to read one or two extracts from her letter to explain the state of transport in the area. It says that now the bus has been withdrawn, residents

“must walk to the A167”—

the main road—which is

“much too far for elderly or infirm, or anyone to carry much more than a light bag. There is no shop in the village and the partial footpaths away from the village are poorly maintained.”

The letter goes on to explain that 50% of households have someone over the age of 60, and states:

“More people are becoming reliant on family and friends or a second car when retiring from work and losing easy access to shops.”

In fact, the nearest shop to that village is the motorway garage at the interchange on the A1. Imagine the nearest shop being at the motorway caff and having to go there to get groceries. That shows the issues affecting our local villages and the stark contrast of the situation in those areas.

Darlington council, because of the cuts it is facing, has had to take some really difficult decisions about subsidies to buses and how it will deal with adult care. Because of the cuts, it will not be able to continue giving subsidies to bus companies, especially at the end of this year. What it is able to do—there are particular grants for doing this—is set up community transport systems. It does not want to run the systems itself but wants a third party to do it. It is currently consulting with local parish councils and others to find a way of doing that. I am pleased about that and I and my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington will help and support the council in its efforts in that regard.

The report of the Select Committee on Transport on its financial scrutiny of the Department for the 2010-12 Session says that £500 million was handed back to the Treasury. It says at page 8, paragraph 10, that that money is

“likely to have exceeded the total reduction in annual revenue for the English bus industry following the Spending Review.”

The report goes on to say:

“Money voted by Parliament for expenditure on transport should be spent on transport, not handed back to the Treasury.”

We have all these constituents facing these cuts and having difficulties getting to work. We have elderly people having to walk a mile and go to a motorway caff and back to get groceries, but this £500 million was sent back to the Treasury. I think some questions need to be asked about that.

[Mrs Moon]

The Bridgend Coalition of Disabled People recently held a transport summit at which they pulled local bus and taxi companies and train operators together to talk about how disabled people can access transport. Increasingly, moving around is expensive and difficult for disabled people and requires prior planning. That money could have been spent on facilitating access to transport for disabled people. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is bad that that money was sent back to the Treasury?

[Phil Wilson]

That amount—£500 million—is not a drop in the ocean. It is a lot of money that could have done a lot of good for transport throughout our rural areas. I hope that Ministers will address this issue in winding up tonight.

Finally, let me make one or two other comments. Arriva runs bus services in County Durham, where a lot of those services have a bad name. With Arriva buses in London, if you see one, you see three at a bus stop, but in some of the villages we represent, people are lucky if they see one all day. Obviously bus companies need to make a profit to invest in better buses and so on, but the private sector also relies a lot on subsidy. Those companies have a right to make a profit but, given that they are providing a social service, they should have some kind of social conscience.

For me, this issue highlights elements of all the talk about the big society. People cannot get to work or see their friends.

[Jake Berry]

It is interesting to hear the hon. Gentleman talking about the cuts at Darlington council. All of us in politics accept that in tough financial times, we have to take decisions about how we serve our constituents, but why has Darlington council chosen to cut the bus subsidy when in March 2011, on its own admission, it had more than £10 million in cash reserves?

[Phil Wilson]

Those are figures we do not recognise, but—[Laughter.] Let me answer the question. Tough decisions have to be made, but they are even harder when the amount of money given to local authorities is being cut drastically.

[Mrs Jenny Chapman (Darlington) (Lab)]

Darlington borough council has had £100,000 withdrawn from its bus operating grant and has made some very difficult decisions on adult social care. It has a responsible reserves policy. It is a sensible council, which shares a lot of its back office functions with neighbouring authorities. It is a low taxing council; we have the lowest council tax in the north-east. It is a well run council and there is not a lot of fat. These decisions are being taken—

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[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Order. I think the hon. Lady should give up now.

[Phil Wilson]

I thank my hon. Friend for clearing up some of the issues. There certainly are choices, but if grants and subsidies are being cut, the difficult decisions that have to be made are even harder. It is not just that the council has to take those difficult decisions, but that particular things have been thrust upon it.

The whole situation undermines the big society. There is a lot of hot air and a lot of big words, but what is actually happening is that people are suffering at the grass roots.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

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[Stephen Phillips]

They certainly apply in such areas to some extent. I do not dissent from that proposition. However, the hon. Lady needs to know the direction in which I am going. Because our constituents—including hers—are so affected by this issue, it is an issue on which the Government should take what action they can take. We are debating the cost of living, and one of the principal costs for those who live in the rural areas in her constituency and in rural areas such as the ones that I represent is the cost of fuel. The Government have tackled that. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has scrapped £4 billion in duty increases that were planned by the last Government. The Opposition do not like to hear this, but the truth is that the price of petrol at the pumps is 10p a litre cheaper than it would have been if the Labour party had won the last election.

Is there more that could be done to deal with the cost of living? Of course, but Opposition Members also need to remember the huge debt bill—£120 million a day—with which the country has been left. If we were not paying that bill, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and the other Treasury Ministers would have far more scope to tackle this and other aspects of the cost of living. We have heard Opposition Members criticise the Government today, but they need to remember who was responsible for getting this country into the mess in which we find ourselves.

[Phil Wilson]

I remind the hon. Gentleman that we are in a double-dip recession, and that when we left power, growth was increasing and unemployment was coming down. Until 2008, before the crisis, the Tories were supporting our public expenditure plans pound for pound.

[Stephen Phillips]

The hon. Gentleman and his Opposition colleagues are very keen on saying that this double-dip recession is a recession made in Downing street, and they are absolutely right—it was made in No. 11 Downing street under the last Government, and then made in No. 10 when the previous Prime Minister finally made his transition from No. 11. The truth of the matter is that we need not only an apology but a bit of humility from the Opposition. It is they who got us into this mess.

I would desperately like to see more action on the cost of living, and specifically fuel pricing, from this Government, but I know, as I have had to tell many of my constituents, that it is simply not possible because of the mess with which we have been left.

That is the first aspect of the cost of living that principally affects my constituents, but there are of course others, including the other great cost associated with ordinary living: energy. The Government have taken action on this through their agreement with the suppliers, as we know, but again there is more that can be done. I am enormously heartened by not only the measures the Government have taken, but those in the Queen’s Speech that will be brought before the House in due course. The truth is that we face a great problem with energy security and the cost of energy as the developing countries across the world become richer. We need to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels that we have had for the last 50 years.

However, there is a related issue that affects constituencies such as mine and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), who spoke earlier: the impact of onshore wind power on rural areas. He may have 30 planning applications outstanding for wind turbines in his constituency; I suspect I have a similar number. The great problem with onshore wind, which the Government will have to grapple with, is that it seems universally to attract no support whatsoever from the communities where the siting of such wind farms is proposed. Some of these very large structures—including in my own constituency—over-top the spire of Lincoln cathedral to a considerable degree. These things are generally not wanted and are uneconomic, to the extent that the subsidy is removed.

The Government will have to look at this issue. Yes, man-made climate change is important, and this generation will have to grapple with it if we are going to live responsibly and hand a decent United Kingdom to our children. However, the problem the Government face—notwithstanding the Localism Act 2011 and everything that was done in the last Session—is that there is no national framework within which wind power is planned. I want to hear from Ministers that that will shift, either in this Session or in other Sessions during the remainder of this Parliament.

The third issue I want to talk about is the cost of food. Government and Opposition Members have spoken about the Government’s plans for a grocery adjudicator. Those who farm in my constituency have too often seen the power of the supermarkets bearing down to such a degree that they have effectively been unable to make a living. That is certainly true of dairy farmers in my constituency, many of whom went out of business long before I became the Member of Parliament. Many farmers in my constituency and other areas of the United Kingdom have been struggling for a number of years. That is why the grocery adjudicator is so important. It is important that we sustain our farming industry in this country, so that we can ensure not only a decent living for our farmers, but future food security. That form of food security will, ultimately, feed through the supply chain and ensure reasonable prices for our constituents. So that is another important aspect of this Queen’s Speech. It is not, as one Opposition Member said, a ragtag Queen’s Speech or a Queen’s Speech full of a ragtag of Bills; it is a Queen’s Speech full of measures that are important to take during this Session and this Parliament to try to rectify some of the damage done to our country between 1997 and 2010.

In today’s debate on the Queen’s Speech we are principally concerned with the cost of living, and I had wished to make contributions on other days on other of the topics that have been debated. I would not wish to find myself ruled out of order, so I shall confine myself to saying that the Government took some brave decisions in the previous Session on foreign policy, and the manner in which the United Kingdom has conducted itself overseas and sought to ensure that democracy is fostered and grows throughout not only the middle east, but the remainder of the world. However, other conflicts that do not find their way into the newspapers and in which civilians are dying are taking place all over the world today. One such conflict is occurring on the borders of South Sudan. I hope that the Minister answering for the Government in this debate will convey my concerns about that and about what is happening in the other areas where humanitarian disasters are occurring, which I know other Government Members and doubtless some Opposition Members share, to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, notwithstanding the fact that I failed to find my place in yesterday’s debate.