Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Hammond Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

4. What recent representations he has received on investment for a third railway track between London, Liverpool Street and Brimsdown.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

My hon. Friend refers to a small scheme involving a piece of extra track in the Brimsdown area. The Mayor of London wrote to the Secretary of State this week commending the alternative, but more expensive, scheme, which would also facilitate economic regeneration.

[Nick de Bois]

The Minister will know that the project enjoys substantial support from Network Rail, north London boroughs and the Mayor’s office. It is crucial to the development of north London, including for potentially up to 33% of new homes, and for more than 20,000 jobs. Will he meet me to discuss support for financial frontloading with resulting payback from local authorities, developers and stakeholders? Any expression of support would be welcome.

[Stephen Hammond]

I will of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and any other colleagues he feels would be appropriate.

[Sir Alan Haselhurst (Saffron Walden) (Con)]

Accepting that half a loaf is better than no bread, will my hon. Friend nevertheless acknowledge that a much more substantial scheme for improving track capacity on that line is the only way to provide commuters and passengers travelling to or from Stansted airport with the kind of service that by now should be seen as essential—and may I join the meeting?

[Stephen Hammond]

My right hon. Friend knows that the second high-level output specification package—HLOS 2 —commits Network Rail to providing extra capacity to meet peak demand in that area. Part of that will be done by having new trains between London, Bishop’s Stortford and Cambridge, and another part is sorting out the capacity constraints south of Broxbourne, which will help his constituents. I would of course be delighted if he joined the meeting.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

5. What funding he has allocated to improve railway stations.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

13. What steps he is taking to address careless driving.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

On 14 June, the Government consulted on proposals to make careless driving a fixed penalty offence, under which drivers who commit less severe examples of the offence, such as driving too close to another vehicle, would be offered educational courses. We hope that that will reduce the instances of careless driving in the not-too-distant future.

[Mr Scott]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the greatest causes of careless driving, even though it is a penalty offence, is people who use mobile phones near schools and more generally, causing accidents? Will that problem be looked into further, because it seems to be spreading?

[Stephen Hammond]

My hon. Friend is right. The use of a mobile phone will qualify for an increased fixed penalty, if that is what the consultation decides. In more serious cases, that offence can be prosecuted with considerably greater penalties.

[Mr Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

15. What recent progress he has made on updating rolling stock on the east coast main line.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

16. If he will commission a feasibility study for a Worthing/Lancing bypass due to traffic congestion on the A27.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

The Department has no current plans to undertake a feasibility study into proposals for a Worthing/Lancing bypass. We have been clear that the funding is currently focused on delivering schemes already in the Highways Agency’s investment programme.

[Tim Loughton]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his new position. With it, he inherits the issue of the lack of a Worthing bypass, which predates his parliamentary career and mine. Worthing is the largest town in Sussex. The major house-building programmes that are planned for my area all feed out on to the A27. The situation will only get worse. Will he come down and sit in the traffic on the A27, as have his predecessors, to see the problem for himself? Will he agree to put back on the agenda a value-for-money study of one of the busiest roads in the south-east of England that needs investment?

[Stephen Hammond]

My hon. Friend is, as ever, generous in his remarks of welcome. His invitation is equally generous, and I do not think I can refuse it.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Graham Evans. Not here.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Linda Riordan (Halifax) (Lab/Co-op)]

T4. The Caldervale line is in urgent need of new rolling stock as the current units are totally inadequate for the 1 million passengers who use Halifax station every year. Will the Minister inform the House when those passengers will get the new trains that they badly need?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

The hon. Lady knows that the northern hub package will certainly improve opportunities for the Calder valley line between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. The high-level output specification announcement confirmed the go-ahead for the Castlefield corridor scheme. She knows that the 2012 Budget set aside a package of measures to increase line speeds and look at the rolling stock.

[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

T7. Are there any plans in the Department to begin to look at the commercial condition and strategic future of Britain’s smaller ports, such as Fleetwood and Glasson dock in my constituency?

[Stephen Hammond]

My hon. Friend knows that the Government’s national policy statement on ports, published in January, designated and underlined the importance of the contribution made by smaller ports. I was delighted to visit the national smaller ports conference in Windermere two weeks ago and to address it. It is, however, for Associated British Ports to promote the commercial opportunities at Fleetwood, rather than the Government.

[Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)]

T5. First, I congratulate Dundee youth council on its “It’s no fare” campaign, which seeks to lower bus fares for young people. Will the Minister liaise with his counterpart in Holyrood in Edinburgh to ensure that apprentices and students can get to their place of work or study for the lowest price?

[Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

T8. For completeness, I should declare that my wife works for Google, albeit in a capacity unrelated to this question. Google, Audi, Ford and Volvo are among the firms pioneering driverless cars, which could cut road accidents by up to 90% while freeing up time that could unleash massive productivity gains. Several US states are testing the technology. What action is the Department taking to explore the viability of that innovation in this country? [R]

[Stephen Hammond]

The technology for driverless cars is, as my hon. Friend says, advancing very quickly. As the Secretary of State just said, our key priority is safety and I want to ensure that those systems are safe and reliable before allowing them on to UK roads. There is of course great potential for UK technology to be at the forefront of these developments and departmental officials are liaising with leading UK researchers in the field.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

T9. In June, the then rail Minister told me that the Government were “making progress on the Thameslink procurement”.—[Official Report, 12 June 2012; Vol. 546, c. 67WH.]In August, The Guardian reported that the contract for new trains would be delayed until the autumn, and it is now the autumn. The delivery of new trains for Thameslink frees up electric rolling stock to move north, but any delay puts that in jeopardy. Will the Minister meet me and Merseytravel to guarantee that we will not end up with an electrified line from Manchester to Liverpool but no electric trains?