Oral Answers to Questions

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Indeed. There is a degree of ingenuity about the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) with which I am very familiar.

[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.

Electric Vehicles (Vulnerable Road Users)

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hood. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North Tyneside (Mrs Glindon) for a highly informed and moving speech about the importance of the issue and how profoundly it affects so many people’s lives.

If anyone had said a generation ago that there could be reasonably environmentally friendly cars that were also quiet, most of us would have leaped for joy and thought we had reached nirvana. However, today’s debate and the excellent work of Guide Dogs make it clear that those vehicles present a significant problem to many people. There is no excuse not to take action now.

We should pay tribute to Guide Dogs for its work on many related campaigns. I recall one that it did about talking buses, soon after I was elected as an MP. I was interested, especially since—to make an international comparison—I worked in north Japan in the early 1990s and talking buses were standard there, not just in urban areas but in rural ones too. All the announcements were audible, and I can remember how helpful it was, as I had gone to Japan unable to read any Japanese script.

We have had some discussion of technical aspects of electric vehicles. I confess that I dropped physics at 14, and will not enter into anything resembling technical debate, but I remember that only 20 or 25 years ago there were all sorts of arguments about the impossibility of certain disability rights arrangements, such as putting ramps in at village halls. People who used wheelchairs, or who were severely disabled, went on being hoiked up steps in a profoundly undignified way. That was wrong, and we would never want to go back to those days. When we speak of rights and independence for people who are blind or visually impaired, or who fall into any of the many categories mentioned by colleagues in the debate, we should recognise that it is not possible to be a little bit equal. We need to give serious consideration to enabling such people to have the same sort of independent lives that the rest of us enjoy.

A point was made earlier about how a near miss with a car could affect the confidence of people who are blind or visually impaired. If I had been in such a situation, I think I would find it difficult to go out alone again; we cannot know when such things might happen. International comparisons have been cited, and many hon. Members have spoken eloquently, and I urge the Government to act on this matter. It will have a meaningful effect on the lives of many people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

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

1. What the current budget is for High Speed 2.

[Mrs Siân C. James (Swansea East) (Lab)]

5. What the current budget is for High Speed 2.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

The spending round of 2013 set a long-term budget for the delivery of HS2 of £42.6 billion. That is made up of £21.4 billion for phase 1 and £21.2 billion for phase 2. The budget includes significant contingency provision of £14.4 billion. That budget is being tightly monitored by the Government and we are confident that the railway will be delivered for less than that figure. I have set HS2 Ltd a “target price” for phase 1 of £17.1 billion.

[Susan Elan Jones]

France, Germany, Japan and many other countries have benefited hugely from their high-speed rail links, and many of us are fed up with a largely London-based commentariat that is seeking to stop a north-south high-speed rail link for this country, but does the Secretary of State agree that, if we are to build a better consensus, it is extremely important that the budget figures he referred to will be both monitored and met?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. We have a good record of delivering big projects on time. The Crossrail scheme, which is being built at the moment, involves more than £14 billion and is the largest construction project in Europe. It will greatly enhance transport in London; it is essential, but HS2 is essential for the rest of the country.

High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 26th June 2013 Commons Chamber

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

Like many Members, I was rather saddened when I realised that the time for our speeches would be cut by half, until I realised that that is exactly what will happen to train journeys to my part of north Wales with the advent of high-speed rail.

Many local concerns have been legitimately aired in this debate and it is important that Front Benchers on both sides take those seriously, because they are fair and legitimate in respect of compensation. However, for me the crux of the matter is that I do not believe it can be right that from here it is quicker to get to Paris than to Wrexham, to Brussels than to Liverpool and to Rotterdam than to Glasgow. It is not right that while France, Germany, Italy and Spain all enjoy high-speed rail networks, we in Britain—the country that invented railways—do not have a comparable system.

I lived and worked in Japan for almost three years and saw how that country’s amazing bullet trains, the Shinkansen, can connect a nation and make travel so much faster. The Bill will bring jobs, growth and investment to the UK as a whole and, critically for me, to my home area of north Wales, although it is not directly on the line. I am delighted that such eminent Welsh experts as Professor Stuart Cole of the university of Glamorgan are pointing to the real benefits to Wales in terms of inward investment due to speedier connections and greater capacity.

As I said, the planned route does not go directly into Wales, but it is still hugely important for connectivity and investment. Getting the journey time from London to such key hubs as Manchester or Liverpool down to an hour and 10 minutes—and to Birmingham, I believe, down to 49 minutes—would be a massive improvement. If the proposed Crewe stop in the second phase takes place, as I very much hope it will, that would also improve things immeasurably. The investment would mean that getting business representatives from London to north Wales and back in a day would be easy. That is the sort of investment that we need.

I do not believe that backing HS2 excludes support for other improvements—indeed, both together are complementary. Backing HS2 does not exclude making the case for direct-line trains now from Wrexham, Gobowen and Shrewsbury to London on the west coast main line service. A Conservative Member made that case earlier and colleagues from north Wales and neighbouring Members from Shropshire, across the political divide, will continue to press it. Supporting HS2 certainly does not exclude the importance of electrification for north Wales and improvements to rail services in west Wales. All those programmes are vital.

We must, of course, ensure that there are sensible, proper connections from HS2 stations. Last week, in a debate in this House, we were reminded that it was the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. I am loth to tread on the subject of European politics in this place, but might I be so bold as to ask why, if the French can manage high-speed trains, we should settle for something slower and second best?

I believe that the programme is needed for jobs, investment and connectivity—I emphasise connectivity, given the nature of my constituency. It is good for Wales, including north Wales, and for Britain. I welcome it and wish it well.

West Coast Main Line

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Westminster Hall

[Albert Owen]

Just to help the hon. Gentleman, I have been raising rail issues for many years. I am the son of a railway man. Yes, I have raised it with Conservative/Liberal Democrat and Labour Ministers.

As for the process, what was clear from my meetings with the potential bidders was that they could not speak about the detail, so we were not that concerned. Now that we have heard the outcome, we have concerns—genuine concerns—on behalf of the taxpayer and the fare payer. That is why it is important to have this debate and why I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire.

The west coast line is important to my constituency. It is an historical link with north Wales, but it also linked the capital of England with the capital of Ireland. Many of the trains that went from Euston to Holyhead carried the Royal Mail—the great Irish Mail trains—but another reason why the link was so important was that it brought Members of Parliament from Ireland to this place for important votes. In those days, Members of Parliament from different parts of the country had real influence over train services—less so today—and one of the reasons for the service was to get all those Irish MPs over.

I have taken a great interest in the line for many years, and I represent a railway town that was and still is a major employer in the area. Today, after many years of investment, in particular over the past decade, we have fast and frequent trains. Now the Super Voyagers or Class 221 trains can do the run from Holyhead to Euston in three hours and 40 minutes. On top of that, there has been an increase in the number of trains to Chester, which has helped my constituents going along the north Wales coast or those going to Anglesey on other occasions. Although having to change at Chester is not always nice, it is better than standing in Euston for hours, which we had to do in the 1980s and early ’90s when trains were less frequent.

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

I take on board my hon. Friend’s point about Chester, but does he agree that still more needs to be done with the direct link to Wrexham, Gobowen and so forth? That was not put in the tender, but the current situation is unacceptable and, when we consider the Wrexham and Shropshire line, all the more urgent. Whether Virgin or FirstGroup, it needs to be addressed properly.

Amendment of the Law

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Friday 23rd March 2012 Commons Chamber

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

I am most grateful to you for calling me to speak in the Budget debate, Mr Speaker. I do not propose to retread old ground, and I shall confine my remarks to how the Budget will affect my constituents. The backdrop to my observations is the fact that unemployment has gone up by 12% since May 2010, according to the claimant count figures from the Office for National Statistics. The latest figures show that 1,811 people in my constituency were unemployed in February 2012. Those same statistics show that unemployment has risen for 15 of the past 21 months, and job losses have included 150 highly skilled jobs at Tetrapak.

A major supermarket is opening in Cefn Mawr in my constituency next Monday, and I welcome that. I welcome the fact that about 100 new jobs will be created, although most will be part time. What I do not welcome is the news that 11 people were chasing every single one of those job vacancies. That is the sort of economic climate people in my home area are facing. It is why it is living in cloud cuckoo land to think that our 41 local Remploy staff will wander straight out of the factory that the Government want to shut into a land of milk, honey and stable new jobs. That is deeply wrong, unjust and immoral, and if the Tory-Lib Dem double act in Westminster will not do anything to put it right, it is vital that they play ball and devolve it to a Labour Government in Wales who will.

What people in my home area know all too well is that we need more of the wealth that private sector jobs create. There is a strong work ethic in our area, which runs deep in our twin industrial and agricultural heritage. We do not expect something for nothing, and these strong cohesive communities are very cross—rightly so—when anyone says we do. This is why we are so concerned about unemployment, and why we know that however many courses people take, however much work experience they get and however many boxes are ticked, what really matters is how many real jobs are out there—jobs that create prosperity and purchasing power, jobs that are for personal fulfilment and challenge, jobs to promote well-being and cohesion in our communities.

Yes, purchasing power is vital in all this. What did construction companies think when the Government swooped up the VAT rates? Let us remember the VAT tax bombshell—I mean the real one that happened on 4 January 2011. The builders and tradesmen in small and medium-sized enterprises certainly remember it because it had a major effect on their businesses.

The Minister spoke about people with business experience, so I will provide her with an example. Mike Learmond, regional organiser for the North Wales and Chester Federation of Small Businesses, put it like this at the time:

“Small firms will be hit hard by the rise in VAT, as unlike big businesses they can’t absorb the increase. Thus small firms will have to pass the full cost on to customers, reduce stock levels or find cost savings elsewhere—potentially costing jobs and undermining the Government’s private sector led recovery.”

Well, 1,811 people in my constituency know exactly what he meant by that.

In a Westminster Hall debate on micro-businesses in January this year, I was most interested when a Conservative Member with clear expertise in this area, the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), made this very thoughtful point about VAT:

“We have on a number of occasions talked about the possibility of reducing rates for restoration and repair of houses, bringing the rate down to 5% rather than the full 20%. It seems to me that, given the pressure on the Government to increase the available housing stock, now is the time to look at that again.”—[Official Report, 25 January 2012; Vol. 539, c. 137WH.]

I agree with her totally and am heartened that my own party has pledged itself to a one-year VAT cut to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance to help home owners and small businesses. In the interests of small and medium-sized businesses, enterprise and support for the work ethic, I am bitterly disappointed that the Chancellor has not used the opportunity of the Budget to do that, as he could have done.

On purchasing power, I am at a loss to understand quite how this Government’s apparent embrace of regional pay, which means pay cuts to my constituents and the people of Wales more widely, is supposed to create an environment in which private sector businesses will flourish. There is also, of course, a deeply moral issue. If a policeman or woman in my constituency is serving the public—whether it be in my constituency or elsewhere, as when they travelled down to London in vans to support the Met police during last summer’s riots—it is right that those servants of the public be paid the same rates. [Interruption.] I wonder whether there will be a real intervention. Perhaps not. In many ways, there will be rightful anger and disappointment at the missed opportunities of this Budget.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

rose—

[Susan Elan Jones]

Oh, it looks as though there is going to be an intervention. No? Yes, please. No, okay. [Interruption.] I thought we were going to have an intervention, but—[Interruption.]

[Dr Coffey]

I had assumed that the hon. Lady would resume her seat if she had accepted my intervention. She might want to consider the fact that London police officers already receive London weighting, as do other public officials. I remind her, too, that it was her Government who introduced regionalised pay for the Court Service; the last Labour Government started it.

[Susan Elan Jones]

It is a great pity that the hon. Lady has been so interested in following the Conservative party’s crib sheet that she has not read about what happened. The circumstances were very different with the court system, and 50 local rates were reduced to five—it was totally different and it standardised the pay far more. [Interruption.] Oh dear, I fear that the hon. Lady will have to wait a little longer to be promoted to a Parliamentary Private Secretary.

As I was saying, I believe that there will be rightful anger and disappointment at the missed opportunities of this Budget. About 14,000 millionaires—we saw some of them on the Front Bench the other day; it looks as though the servants are on duty today—will be rubbing their hands with glee at the £40,000 tax cuts they are receiving, while small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, teachers, nurses, police, families and pensioners are collectively faced with a £3 billion stealth tax, and are adversely affected. The 1,811 unemployed people in Clwyd South will rightly feel let down this week by a Tory Government, aided and abetted by those spectacularly useless Orange Book Lib Dems. Let us hope that, even at this late hour, this Government will put working families and those who want to work ahead of their ultra-rich cronies.

Cycling

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2012 Westminster Hall

[Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

My comments will be brief because I do not want to repeat too much of what other hon. Members have said. The first thing we have to remember is that cycling is universal. Whether someone is an 80-year-old former miner or a young person, cycling gives freedom, independence and enjoyment. However, we need a much safer environment if we are to encourage more people, particularly the young, to cycle. We need to take great leaps forward in safety.

I am extremely lucky because in my constituency we have some magnificent purpose-built cycle tracks. We have a millennium coastal path all along the coast and a route using a former railway track, which climbs very gradually at a perfect gradient up to Tumble and beyond. However, we need to ensure that it is safe for cyclists to go wherever they need to go, not just on the purpose-built routes but wherever they want—for example, to work or to the shops in their locality, and when they travel elsewhere for work or holidays. Cyclists need to be safe both on urban and rural roads because, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) said, it is often when people go out into the rural or semi-rural areas that they pick up speed, they are not so aware and it becomes much more dangerous.

We need much greater awareness among drivers—all drivers of all vehicles. We can tackle that through the learner-driver approach, the test and so on. However, we need a very high-profile campaign to bring home to all vehicle drivers how dangerous it is for them to be driving at speed on any rural roads and, indeed, obviously on urban roads. Those who have had the pleasure of cycling in France will know that French drivers traditionally pull out considerably wider when they overtake, beep their horns and leave cyclists a proper, decent space. We need to have that mentality here, so that when someone wants to overtake a cyclist, they give them the same berth as a car or a tractor, rather than trying to squash in and pass by while a vehicle is coming in the other direction. Cyclists are often faced with the extremely dangerous and difficult situation of being squashed into the hedge.

I have never had quite so many vitriolic e-mails as when I spoke up in a debate in the previous Parliament and suggested that all our speed signs change to kilometres per hour, so that when a driver saw a 30, that would be 30 kph, and when a driver saw a 40 it would be 40 kph. Effectively, that would give all urban roads a 20 mph speed limit. I am pleased to say that that is being rolled out in many areas near schools, and I think that many of us have seen that in our own areas. We need to come back to that idea, particularly as, coming from outside London, I have never known why everyone in London has to race between one set of traffic lights and the next. That determination to get to the next red light as fast as possible always strikes me as bizarre.

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

One suggestion about why people might do that is the absence of hills. If more people came to some parts of the United Kingdom, including our nation of Wales, they might see what a wonderful place it is in which to cycle. In October, Etape Cymru came into my constituency and there were 1,600 cyclists, so there are great opportunities. Does my hon. Friend agree that one reason why many of us are so pro-cycling is because we see the potential for tourism?

[Nia Griffith]

Indeed. There are many wonderful Sustrans routes across Wales, but they sometimes take the cyclist down very narrow lanes, which can be dangerous. I found myself spending most of the day jumping into the hedge because there was no room for me and the combine harvester coming down the lane.

High-speed Rail

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I will be very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about his desire for high-speed rail in his area, and then we can discuss those precise issues.

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

I congratulate the Secretary of State and thank her for her commitment to HS2 today. She will, of course, be aware that there has been a great deal of support from members of the public and from businesses in Wales on this. Can she confirm whether the Secretary of State for Wales, in her capacity as Secretary of State for Wales, made representations in favour of this, thus reflecting widespread opinion in Wales?

[Justine Greening]

The Secretary of State for Wales did her job both as a Welsh Secretary and as a constituency MP in talking to me about the benefits of the project, and I thoroughly agree with her that we have ended up with the right line, with the right mitigation.

Public Transport (Disabled Access)

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2011 Westminster Hall

[Mark Lazarowicz]

Absolutely. I intended to make that point later, but I shall deal with it now. It is essential that regulations are tightened and that funding is provided. The wonderful phrase “joined-up government” needs to apply in this area because there are many examples of simple things that could be done to improve access for disabled people. There are also examples of where the consequences of a minor local policy or local works were not thought through and had a detrimental effect on access for disabled people. I believe it would be good to retain the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, because whatever support is provided in-house by the Department for Transport, it will not have the same voice as an independent body that speaks for its users. I shall not go into that in detail, but we shall see what the Government have to say on the matter.

A lack of joined-up thinking can make a difference. For example, I have seen trains that have good accessibility, such as spaces for disabled people and a ramp that is operated either manually or automatically, so that when the train arrives at a station, people can leave it easily. However, there may be temporary works at the station—perhaps a barrier or building work has been set up, or a load of bricks has appeared at the end of the ramp—and people cannot get off. That point is not only about accessibility for people in wheelchairs; accessibility can be difficult for all sorts of people because, to put it bluntly, not enough thinking has been done on how to join up different aspects of a service.

I will refer again to Edinburgh, where 100% of Lothian Buses are now accessible to disabled people. A few years ago, a number of buses were introduced with an increased number of spaces for wheelchairs. However, there were a number of complaints, particularly from pensioner groups, because the buses would drive off quickly and people would lose their balance and fall over. The issue was solved simply by installing more rails and grips for people to hold on to once on the bus—a common-sense approach that was not thought of at the time, but which, due to consultation with local people, was resolved quickly. That is an example of the need for simple, joined-up government, as well as regulations and spending, and it is why the voice of disabled people is particularly important. There is no better way to understand where services or adaptations are needed than talking to those who use them.

I have two final points to make. First, the campaign for talking buses is an eminently sensible proposal that seeks the mandatory installation of audio and visual announcements on all new buses. The cost would be small compared with the overall cost of new buses, and that provision could be attained by amending the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000. As I understand it, the Department for Transport currently does not intend to legislate on that, but I hope that the Government will change their position. Such a measure would make great common sense and be useful to all passengers, not just those with issues of accessibility.

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

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) for securing this important debate. Is my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz) aware that in many countries campaigns such as that for talking buses, run by Guide Dogs for the Blind, are commonplace? When I worked in Japan more than 20 years ago, talking buses were the norm and were not seen as unusual. I do not know when that began, but it is imperative that such a system is introduced in this country as soon as possible. If that is not carried out voluntarily by bus companies in receipt of public funding, strong pressure should be put on them.

[Mark Lazarowicz]

My hon. Friend makes a good point; I have been on buses with that facility in other parts of Europe. If regulations are not changed, the speed with which that facility spreads through the bus network will be so slow that it will take 10, 20 or 30 years for a reasonable number of buses to be equipped, if it happens at all.

Bus Industry

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2011 Westminster Hall

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

Let me begin by saying what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. May I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) on securing what I think is an important debate? He was kind enough to mention my constituency in his opening remarks, and I think that the example of Hartlepool and its bus users provides an almost perfect case study to illustrate why competition in the bus market is not working.

I would not disagree with the notion of competition in the bus market if it resulted in wider choice and a better-quality service for passengers. We would all agree that in an ideal situation, competition should keep operators on their toes, as they would be mindful of rivals securing a greater share of the market and would offer a more comprehensive service, a better fare and ticketing structure, more punctual journey times and more modern vehicles.

The situation in my constituency, however, is particularly frustrating because Hartlepool has all the ingredients for a good and comprehensive bus service. It is a relatively compact town; there are outlying villages, which I will mention in a moment, but at its heart is an urban centre just 2 miles wide and 5 or 6 miles long. Travel is self-contained and most journeys in Hartlepool take place within that urban centre, which therefore lends itself to a rapid, reliable, co-ordinated and integrated public bus transport system. About 40% per cent of households in my constituency do not have regular access to a car, which feeds into the need for a comprehensive public transport service to avoid isolation for many of my constituents.

Further afield, Teesside university in nearby Middlesbrough, the petrochemical and process industry cluster in Wilton, and the new logistical and distributional commercial opportunities at Teesport could mean that many of my constituents would have access to better employment rates and opportunities to participate in higher education if those places were connected by better public transport links. My constituency would benefit in every possible sense. From my experience in Hartlepool, however, it is clear that no effective market is in operation. My hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton touched on that with an example from Greater Manchester, and I will discuss that point in more detail later.

Bus services are dominated by one provider, Stagecoach, which has a significant share of the wider UK bus market. Such dominance has led to inefficiencies and distortions in the market—that is true not only in my constituency but, as we have heard, across the country. My hon. Friend quite rightly mentioned the profits made by Stagecoach, and it is worth reiterating that point. For the year ending 30 April 2011, Stagecoach made operating profits of about £200 million. Over three quarters of that operating profit—some £153.1 million—was generated solely through its UK bus operations. The profit margin of its UK bus division was 17.1%, as opposed to a 6.5% profit margin for its north American operations and 4.5% for its UK rail division. In its annual report Stagecoach states—boasts—of “sector leading profit margins” within its UK bus operations.

How was that allowed to happen? The answer is contained in the company’s annual report. Its operating and financial review states that its business model for its UK bus operations in the regions is based on an

“emphasis on lightly regulated bus operations enabling management to vary prices, operating schedules and timetables in response to developments in each local market—”

and this is the key phrase—

“without significant hindrance from regulation.”

It is therefore clear that Stagecoach seeks to cherry-pick profitable routes and discards socially or economically vital services the moment the taxpayer fails to take the risk on its behalf and subsidies are ended. The company is able to do so without the hindrance of an effective regulatory regime that could insist that such services are maintained for the good of the community.

The business model boasted about in the annual report is shown to be true when one looks at my constituency. As I said earlier, Stagecoach is by far the most dominant bus operator in Hartlepool. Arriva and Go North East provide a small number of services that travel in and out of the constituency, but in the main Stagecoach has a monopoly on the market, with about 80 % to 85% of market share.

The bus market in my constituency is striking for the absence of medium-sized bus companies. It has been difficult, as we have heard in relation to other places, for small and new entrants to the market to gain ground. Promising new entrants such as Tees Valley Coaches have provided some new routes, but have found it difficult to gain a foothold in the market and are now pulling back from providing routes.

A far too dominant player in the market has ensured that there is no incentive to improve services. Punctuality is poor. The traffic commissioner’s target is that 95% of buses should be on time. In Hartlepool, that figure is 81%. As my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton said, ticketing arrangements, too, undermine choice and competition. In my constituency, Stagecoach operates a ticket discount scheme, but it is available only for Stagecoach services, rather than bus services across the town. Passengers are dissuaded from using other operators—of which they have only a limited choice—because of the additional cost of buying yet another ticket.

Most damning of all—my hon. Friend kindly mentioned this—is the abrupt cancellation of services, which leaves my constituents without access to transport. Hartlepool borough council faces cuts in its budget from central Government of about 25%, and it has decided to stop all subsidised services. That means that there are in effect no bus services in my constituency after 6 pm or on Sundays. Some outlying areas of my constituency—villages such as Elwick or Dalton Piercy, as well as the central area of the Burbank estate—now have no bus service whatever, which has left residents in those areas completely isolated.

The recent report by the Select Committee on Transport, “Bus Services after the Spending Review”, cites many comments from residents of my constituency. Miss Raw, for example, says that the bus service from Elwick to Hartlepool has been withdrawn, leaving the village completely cut off from Hartlepool. She states:

“I do not drive and therefore am finding it very difficult to shop for essentials, visit doctors, dentists, opticians, banks, hospital visits etc. Also I no longer visit friends, go to the theatre, or cinema, especially in the evening. In fact we are completely isolated.”

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

Does my hon. Friend agree that whatever one’s general view on the bus deregulation of the 1980s, the one thing that we know is that it was an unmitigated disaster in villages and very rural areas, as buses were reduced either to a highly limited service or, in many cases, withdrawn altogether? That compounded the problem of rural poverty, which is often not addressed in an urban environment.

[Mr Wright]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton referred to the same issue. Economic activity is very much contingent on the availability of good transport and connectivity. Concerns have been raised with me both by constituents living in the urban part of Hartlepool and by constituents living in outlying areas, who say that they cannot take up a job because they cannot get to the place of work as a result of the absence or removal of the bus service.

Another of my constituents cited in the Select Committee report is Mrs Powers, who states:

“Since the removal of the bus service my daughter…has NO way of getting to and from college…Is she surely not entitled to the education she deserves? My daughter works very hard and gets excellent grades and I feel appalled that her future education is being jeopardised in this way!”

It is important to mention the importance of access to education in rural areas. My hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones) will be concerned about that as well.

It is clear that competition in the bus market in Hartlepool has failed. Deregulation since the mid-1980s has not proved to be a success. The market is characterised by too dominant a player, making excessive profits by cherry-picking the busy and popular routes and ensuring that passenger choice is left behind. For those services that remain, punctuality rates are behind what should be expected, because operators do not fear that another company might come along and provide a better service that takes away their market share.