Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Goodwill Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

3. What support is available to people with disabilities at railway stations with no disabled access.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

The Equality Act 2010 requires station operators to address the needs of disabled travellers. So far, 153 station access projects have been authorised, of which 38 are on site and the remainder have already been completed.

[Joan Walley]

The policy of East Midlands Trains, which runs trains through Kidsgrove station in my constituency, is that

“if you want to travel to and from stations which are inaccessible, you can do so at no extra cost.”

But would it not make far more sense for the Government to approve the plans for disabled access at Kidsgrove in April? This is a real cost-of-living issue. It would be much cheaper for the Government to do that, and much better for disabled people.

[Mr Goodwill]

The Government have announced the provision of a further £100 million to extend the scheme to 2019. In order to qualify, stations must meet three important criteria. We expect to announce 53 projects in April that have been approved under the scheme.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

May I urge the Minister to ensure, when he announces those projects, that Alfreton station, which is in my constituency, is included? Disabled access to both platforms is long overdue, and it really should be provided in the next year.

[Mr Goodwill]

The criteria that we apply when assessing stations for the purposes of the scheme are the footfall—if that is the right word to use—of disabled people at stations, the level of use, and the number of disabled people in the area.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Just one in five railway stations is fully accessible to disabled passengers, but from 2014 the Minister is cutting funds for the Access for All programme from £43 million a year to £25 million. His Department has said that involving disabled organisations in decisions about which stations should have priority

“would add little value to the process”.

How can people with disabilities have any trust that the Government are on their side?

[Mr Goodwill]

We are continuing the scheme that was initiated by the last Government. By 2015, 75% of journeys will be step-free, as opposed to 50% in 2006.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to improve safety on motorways.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

Motorways are the safest roads in the country. The Highways Agency network carries 32.7% of all traffic, but accounts for only 6.8% of those killed or seriously injured. Hard-shoulder running on smart motorways is delivering further improvements.

[Mr Bain]

Does the Minister not accept that opening a stretch of hard shoulder permanently, while reducing the amount of signage and the number of emergency refuge areas on our managed motorways, is an example of the Government giving reduced costs a higher priority than road safety?

[Mr Goodwill]

The hon. Gentleman has got it completely wrong. I know that this seems counter-intuitive, but 8% of fatalities take place on the hard shoulders of existing motorways, although only a very small proportion of traffic is on them. Hard-shoulder running, managed motorways and smart motorways have been a great success, and have reduced the number of accidents on those sections of the motorway by 50%.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

I agree with my hon. Friend that the standard of safety on motorways is very high, but he and I would both benefit from improved safety on the A64. Will he update the House on the progress that is being made with better road improvements, less congestion and the easing of traffic on the A64 between York and Scarborough?

[Mr Goodwill]

I suppose that I should declare an interest, as the Member of Parliament for Scarborough.

We have tripled spending on road projects since we came to power, which will mean that roads such as the A64 are likely to have a much better chance of improving. In the short term, I am interested to note that a trial that is taking place on the A9 in Scotland, where the speed limit for lorries is being increased from 40 to 50 mph. We hope that will reduce the number of nasty accidents caused by people overtaking in dangerous places.

[Mr Speaker]

The road in question is immensely important, but I do not think that it is a motorway,

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[Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)]

13. The great British pub is well sited in many places, but I suggest that junction 2 of the M40—or, indeed, any other motorway junction—is not one of them. Organisations such as Brake are firmly against the siting of a pub there, and a survey from the RAC has now shown that two thirds of the British public are against it as well. Will the Minister please look into this issue? It is nonsense to have a pub at a motorway service station.

[Mr Goodwill]

I understand that the pub in that particular case is at a motorway service area that is served by other roads as well as the motorway, and these decisions are a matter for local authorities. Every pub in the country is served by a road, and it is up to drivers to act responsibly and ensure that they do not drink and drive.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that expecting the police to enforce the proposed new offence of smoking in cars with children present will divert them away from other duties, which could have a direct impact on motorway safety?

[Mr Goodwill]

That is probably a matter for the Secretary of State for Health. There will be a free vote on Monday on that subject, and I will certainly be voting to ban smoking in cars where children are present, having had to sit in the back of the car at a young age feeling green and carsick while my father was puffing away.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

5. What assessment he has made of the availability of bus services across the country.

[Andy Sawford (Corby) (Lab/Co-op)]

12. What assessment he has made of the availability of bus services across the country.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

Decisions about the provision of bus services outside London are a matter for commercial bus operators and local authorities, who are best placed to identify the transport needs in their areas. Ministers and officials are in regular contact with bus sector stakeholders such as local authorities and the Confederation of Passenger Transport about developments in the bus market. My noble Friend Baroness Kramer will also chair the next meeting of the Bus Partnership Forum this week, bringing together all those with an interest in the provision of bus services.

[Chris Williamson]

First, may I put it on record that my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett) and I very much welcome the Crossrail announcement, which will secure the long-term future of rail manufacturing in Derby? My question is about buses, however. The Minister will be aware that Government figures show that, as a result of Government cuts, there has been a 17% reduction in the number of supported bus services in this country. Will it not render meaningless the Prime Minister’s commitment to securing the pensioners bus pass if there are no buses for pensioners to use in the first place?

[Mr Goodwill]

Local authorities have certainly had to make some difficult decisions, but the fact remains that 44% of the money that goes to bus companies comes, in one way or another, from the taxpayer. We should look carefully at the working of the bus service operators grant, which is a fuel subsidy, because it seems to be a very blunt tool to support services that are under threat, particularly in rural areas.

[Andy Sawford]

Many bus services in my area have been cut altogether, and some of those that are left are of poor quality. Will the Minister help my constituents by encouraging the Vehicle and Operator Service Agency to investigate why the Centrebus service between Raunds and Thrapston frequently either fails to arrive or breaks down?

[Mr Goodwill]

I will certainly be happy to do that. I also recommend that the operator Stagecoach should go to Scarborough and order a new fleet of buses, made in my constituency, to solve that problem.

[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

At a time when Lancashire county council is making further piecemeal reductions to my local bus network, will Ministers urge local authorities and private sector bus companies to involve passengers far more in the design of local networks, to ensure that the buses go to the locations that passengers actually want them to go to?

[Mr Goodwill]

A number of local authorities up and down the country are looking at intelligent ways of addressing that problem, including utilising dial-a-ride and community buses more. People tend to defend the status quo, but it is often the case that alternative solutions can be more acceptable, particularly to older people who travel during the daytime.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Does not bus availability also include bus accessibility? With fares going up and the number of services going down, are Ministers not making disabled passengers second-class citizens by ducking out of enforcing new European standards that require bus operators to give their staff disability awareness training, as rail operators have to do? The Transport Select Committee, disability charities and tens of thousands of disabled people think that the Government should sign up to that new standard. A month ago, the Minister promised in Westminster Hall that his Department would review the training opt-out in March. Will he now tell disabled passengers whether he will give them that support—yes or no?

[Mr Goodwill]

As I made clear during the Westminster Hall debate, a large number of bus operators are doing this voluntarily, and we certainly support a voluntary approach, rather than regulation.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

6. What plans he has to set up a High Speed 2 skills academy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

8. What recent progress has been made on (a) Highways Agency works to widen the A14 between junctions 7 and 9 and (b) Network Rail’s reconstruction of the Pytchley Road road bridge over the Midland main line in Kettering.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

I am sure my hon. Friend will welcome the news that works to widen this section of the A14 around Kettering are under way. Widening the eastbound carriageway has begun and is due to be completed in approximately four months’ time. Work will then follow on the westbound carriageway.

Network Rail installed the new Pytchley Road bridge deck over the Midland main line over the Christmas period and is now reconstructing the road over it. This work is on programme for completion by the end of February.

[Mr Hollobone]

I welcome the Government’s direct investment in the transport infrastructure in Kettering, but can I point out to the Minister that while residents will welcome the works once completed, they are causing a huge amount of traffic disruption to residents in Kettering? There is concern that both projects are being undertaken at the same time. Can I seek his guarantee that the work on the Pytchley Road bridge will be completed on time at the end of this month?

[Mr Goodwill]

I can certainly give him that assurance. The Pytchley Road bridge is part of the electrification that we are carrying out on the railways. We have already announced 800 miles of electrification, compared with 9 miles under the previous Government. The decision was taken to do the two works simultaneously, and we are using the same traffic management company to try to ensure that we co-ordinate the disruption that sadly always happens when that type of work is done.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

9. What plans he has to introduce new rolling stock on the railways.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

10. What assessment he has made of the effects of rising bus and train fares on the cost of living and the cost of travelling to work.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

The fares that passengers pay are crucial to funding bus and rail operations. In rail, they contribute towards the major investment programme we are undertaking. I recognise concerns passengers have about impacts of fares on household budgets, which is why for the first time in a decade average regulated rail fares have been capped at inflation. Outside London, bus services are deregulated and fares are mainly a matter for the commercial judgment of bus operators.

[Kerry McCarthy]

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that single people under the age of 35 are being hit particularly hard by the cost of living crisis and are at the greatest risk of having extremely low incomes. Does the Department recognise that high fares make it even more difficult for them to find work and stay in work, particularly if it is only part-time work, which is increasingly what is on offer to them these days?

[Mr Goodwill]

I am surprised the hon. Lady did not welcome the fact that we have capped rail fares at inflation for the first time in a decade, and I also note she was not whingeing on in the same way when, for example, council tax doubled under the last Labour Government, and every year the fuel duty escalator loaded expense on people who buy petrol, and we had above-inflation fare rises every time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

T3. There is no doubt in my mind that the west country is the most important part of the country. At the moment, not only do we have problems with the main rail down through Dawlish and Exeter, but we need to upgrade the Exeter to Waterloo line. We also need that second arterial road route, the A30-A303, to ensure that we get access to the west country

[Mr Goodwill]

I can tell my hon. Friend that the A30-A303 corridor is one of the six strategic routes into which we are trying to get some investment. It is a very important route, and, as we have seen from the vulnerability of the rail line, it is one on which we need to concentrate. I am aware that there are some environmental issues in the Stonehenge area and the Blackdown hills, so we need to be sensitive in the way that we deliver the improvements.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

T4. I know that the Secretary of State gets on well with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who is encouraging muscular localism and local referendums. Will he do the same in those communities, the big cities, where no one has been consulted about the value for money and the impact of High Speed 2?

--- Later in debate ---

[Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)]

T7. Will the Secretary of State join me in welcoming the granting of planning permission for the expansion of Luton airport? It will help the Government with their capacity problem in the south-east and do so without the extension of any existing runway or the building of a new one.

[Mr Goodwill]

Regional airports, or local international airports as I like to call them, have an important part to play in delivering the air connectivity that we need, so I am pleased to hear that news.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

T6. The future of electrification in the north will be looked at by a joint committee of experts to recommend future routes for electrification in the north of England. Will the Secretary of State advise us when that joint committee will be set up so that those of us who are rooting for the Caldervale line to be electrified can participate?

[Mr Goodwill]

The Government are transforming rail travel for passengers across the north and are investing heavily in the electrification of the network and in the £500 million northern hub capacity scheme. In parallel with that new commitment, we announced the establishment of a joint taskforce to explore where to go next with electrification in the north. The taskforce has been asked to ensure that eight named routes are considered, but it is free to consider the case for any route in the north, including the Caldervale line.

[Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Lab)]

Although, obviously, I am disappointed that Hitachi was not successful in winning the Crossrail bid, I am pleased for the people of Derby and think that it is good news for British jobs. I am sure that the House is aware that although all the bidders are foreign-owned, two are based in the UK: Hitachi in Newton Aycliffe in my constituency and Bombardier in Derby. Will the Secretary of State tell the House what processes are in place to ensure that the winning bidder will fulfil its contractual obligations?

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

A while ago, a lorry caught fire on a motorway in my constituency. It was carrying ammunition, including Sidewinder missiles. Will the Minister consider approaching those who transport very dangerous materials, including chemicals, to suggest transferring those journeys from motorways to rail, where the chances of a catastrophe are greatly reduced?

[Mr Goodwill]

The Department takes the transportation of dangerous goods very seriously. As a former road tanker driver, I understand many of the hazards. As we build the high-speed rail network and electrify more services, there will be more capacity on the existing classic line for freight services such as those to which the hon. Gentleman refers.

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

Guide Dogs, Whizz-Kidz and Living Streets, among others, have supported a campaign I have been running with Claire Connon, a prospective 2016 Paralympian, to fix our pavements. What is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that footways can be used by people in wheelchairs, people with mobility issues, people who are partially sighted, people with pushchairs and everyone else who wants to make use of them?

[Mr Goodwill]

It is vital that we roll out as much accessibility in the countryside as possible. I know that organisations such as the Country Land and Business Association benevolent trust have given grant aid for such schemes. I think we should roll out as far as possible any schemes to allow more people access to footways and to ensure that disabled people have the same rights as everybody else to enjoy the countryside.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Of all the major northern towns, Hull is the only one with no proposal to electrify its main railway line. That means that First Hull Trains’ proposal to electrify the line from Selby to Hull is an essential upgrade, especially bearing in mind 2017. Will the Minister commit to working with Network Rail and First Hull Trains to ensure that we have that for 2017?

[Mr Goodwill]

We are certainly very interested in the suggestions made by First Hull Trains. I occasionally use that line myself and we will certainly consider that bid for electrification alongside others.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

Although I greatly welcome today’s commitment to get our line open as soon as possible, does the Secretary of State agree that it is vital that we send out the message that Cornwall is still open for business? Will he therefore lay out plans for alternative bus services to replace the train services?