HS2

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

We have a range of different people on the Doug Oakervee board, including Andy Street, and we are making sure that all the representations go into it. As I say, I do not want to rush to prejudge this. We do know certain things. We know from the Allan Cook report about the range of £72 billion to £78 billion. I do not have confidence in the data I have been provided with to know yet whether the benefits have outstripped or under-stripped these various different costs. I just start with a blank sheet of paper. I just want the data: give me the facts and then we will be in a much better position to decide, including for people throughout the west midlands.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

I am sure I was as pleased as you were, Mr Speaker, to hear about the review undertaken by the new Secretary of State. Can he reassure me that, as part of the new cost-benefit analysis, the review will take into account that many people work very hard while on trains, as I am about to do as I return to my constituency on a high-speed train run by Chiltern Rail?

[Grant Shapps]

Absolutely. Travelling on a train can be a fantastic way to chomp through constituency work or anything else that people are doing on business or for pleasure. It is one of the most civilised ways to work—when we have our trains running on time, which is another related priority.

EU Exit Preparations: Ferry Contracts

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alan Brown]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I shall return to the substantive point of procurement. I touched earlier on rail franchising. The Secretary of State always says that he believes in competition. If he believes in competition, why did he have this secretive direct negotiating process? What is competitive about that? How could that provide value for money for the taxpayer? Will he come to the Dispatch Box and justify the expenditure and give us a detailed rationale of how he has managed to provide any value for money for the taxpayer in this entire process?

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the ending of Seaborne’s contract has not in fact cost the taxpayer a penny?

[Alan Brown]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, which proves either that she does not listen or that the Transport Secretary does not understand the meaning of spending money. It actually resulted in an out-of-court settlement of £33 million, in legal fees—we still have to hear how much—in further risk to the Government and in the due diligence costs. That seems to be quite a hefty expenditure loosely related to the Seaborne contract.

Seaborne Freight

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Tuesday 8th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

There is a complete lack of understanding of business models on the Opposition Benches. Opposition Members should understand that when they go on holiday next summer there is a fair chance they will be flying with an airline that owns no planes. The reality is that transport operators do not always own their own assets; they contract or charter them in and they operate the service. I do not think that Opposition Members understand that. As to the crewing of the ships, that is a matter for the company itself.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm to me that it is normal to award contracts, in a small part, to new operators and that while perhaps 90% of operators used by the Department are established, it is perfectly normal for the Department properly—acting legally as part of its procurement process—to include new operators as part of the consideration?

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; that is normal, and we do not actually do enough of it. The Government are frequently criticised for contracting only with big business and not with small business. Ironically, now we are contracting with small business for a small part of a package we need, we are getting criticised for it, so we cannot win either way.

A40 in West Oxfordshire: Congestion

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Tuesday 8th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts]

I could not agree more and I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. I tend to talk about the A40 in terms of Witney and West Oxfordshire, but we must not forget that the effects of the congestion on the road spill over into Gloucestershire and his constituency. [Interruption.] And of course I am reminded, from a sedentary position by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis), that it affects the whole of Oxfordshire, not just West Oxfordshire.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that in Oxfordshire we are really getting behind the Government’s housing programme and going for growth? His area and mine repeatedly top the leader board for the number of new houses built. Does he agree that our road arteries are holding us back?

[Robert Courts]

That is an excellent point. One point overrides all others—if there are to be new homes, the infrastructure must come with them. I will dwell on that a little more later, but my hon. Friend makes her point excellently.

The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) referred obliquely to Brize Norton. That is terribly important. The people who work at that Royal Air Force base come not necessarily from Carterton but from further afield—sometimes 50 or 100 miles away—because of the nature of service life. This issue affects the Royal Air Force’s functioning and efficiency, too, and we must address that.

There is no silver bullet for A40 congestion. We will require a combination of schemes from a variety of funding streams to tackle it. I will briefly cover some of the options and funding avenues, and ask for the Minister’s help in securing the funding we need.

First, the park and ride scheme, for which a public consultation has just closed, is Oxfordshire County Council’s most immediate project for A40 improvement. The intended funding stream for that is the Department for Transport’s local growth fund. There are plans to build a park and ride at Eynsham, together with an eastbound bus lane between Eynsham and the Duke’s Cut canal bridge near Wolvercote. Those proposals probably represent the biggest step forward on A40 congestion in a generation. They would bring real change and progress on an issue that affects the day-to-day lives of us all. We would see essential widening of the road and long-needed upgrades to public transport along the route. It would be a significant step—although perhaps not a conclusive one—in the right direction, and I will ask for the Minister’s help in securing funding. However, it may be that those proposals on their own do not offer a final fix and that no aspect of this scheme can be seen in isolation. Work may need to continue—

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[Victoria Prentis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning public services. As he knows, because of what is, we hope, the temporary downgrade of Horton General hospital, people from both our constituencies need to gain access to essential public services in Oxford, which is very difficult to reach at times of peak traffic demand.

[Robert Courts]

My hon. Friend is right, and I entirely support her campaign to ensure that our important services are outside the centre of Oxford whenever possible so that that journey is not necessary. However, sometimes it is, and the A40, like other major roads, is sometimes impassable owing to congestion that poses not just an obstacle to business and public services but, in some instances, a safety threat to residents. That is clearly unacceptable.

I want to make a couple of points before, very gratefully, I allow the Minister to respond. I have spent much of the debate discussing the investment that I want to see in direct upgrades on the A40, but we must not forget—I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for The Cotswolds for his foreshadowing of the points that I now wish to make—the contribution to be made by West Oxfordshire’s railways in tackling A40 congestion. It is in everyone’s interests for fewer cars to use the A40 whenever possible, but we can see the modal shift that we need only if our railways can offer a feasible, practicable and reliable service as an alternative. If that is to happen, there is an urgent need for the remaining sections of the Cotswold line to be doubled, which would enable more frequent and more reliable trains to travel from Hanborough to Oxford.

I will continue to campaign for the reopening of the Cowley branch line for passengers, with a regular shuttle service to Hanborough, but if we improved bus and cycle links to and from Hanborough, we could create a public transport hub in West Oxfordshire, taking cars off the A40 and reducing congestion throughout our area. I want people to be able to leave their cars behind, and to use buses, trains and bikes whenever possible so that there is more room on the roads for those who must use cars. We need to build a truly integrated transport network in West Oxfordshire that will meet the needs of our area and enable residents and businesses to thrive in the years ahead.

For decades, congestion on the A40 has been one of the biggest issues facing West Oxfordshire, and I am determined to tackle it. We are moving in the right direction, with opportunities for investment from a number of central Government funds, so there is more cause for optimism than there has been for decades, but there is still much work to do if we are to deliver the improvements that are needed. Let me stress to the Minister that, as we have heard from everyone who has spoken in the debate, this is not just a matter of minor inconvenience for us; it is a blight on the lives of commuters, and a millstone around the necks of our businesses. It is vital that we work towards, and ultimately achieve, a final fix for the A40, because only then can West Oxfordshire, and the surrounding areas, achieve their full potential.

High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Perhaps that shows the scale of the battle that has been going on for six years, in which people are trying to defend their environment and locality or, if they cannot have the whole project cancelled, at least to get the best possible deal for their locality.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

In my constituency, we have had significant problems in engaging with HS2—and not just me as the Member of Parliament; the county council and the district council have simply not had their letters answered. That gives us no assurance that HS2 will engage in a timely fashion with those who have to use the roads every day.

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[Mrs Gillan]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and grateful for the support that I have received from colleagues across the piece.

On new clause 3, there is currently no information on how the funds will be divided, which areas will be prioritised or how the money could be spent. There is also no clarification of whether, for example, the funds to be allocated will include the moneys already allocated to the Colne valley. Will those come out of this funding envelope? There has been a suggestion that the money will be delivered locally through local enterprise partnerships, but that would be most unsuitable. In Buckinghamshire, for example, we have two overlapping LEPs. How would the money be administered? I think it should be kept separate from the LEPs and genuinely given to local groups so that they can decide how best to distribute the funds. I urge the Minister both to increase the funds and to provide further details on how they will be administered.

The last new clause to which I shall speak in this group is new clause 4, which deals with compensation. All the MPs who have constituencies along the route will know that compensation issues have caused great worry and stress to our constituents, and many of the recommendations of the HS2 hybrid Bill Select Committee, although welcome, have yet to translate into changes to the schemes. The Select Committee’s report in February 2016 stated that

“the Government said that it would work to implement a revised process for the valuation of properties for ‘Need to Sell’ that will allow more local valuers to be used”.

That review was promised for autumn last year, but we are still waiting.

The Department for Transport’s response to the Select Committee report is silent on the valuation point, and although a response was promised before Third Reading, when I last looked I had not yet received that. I may be wrong—HS2 tends to slip out its documents just in time for debates, which I think is poor practice. In this case such poor practice is affecting people’s lives. Implementing a fair valuation process for property owners who are receiving unacceptably low offers from HS2 is of paramount importance.

I still have a large number of constituents who have been negotiating with HS2 for months to get a fair price for their property, and I know from colleagues that it is a similar story up and down the route. I have been appalled at the treatment of individuals, who have had to employ expensive lawyers even to get timely and rational answers from those employed by HS2 or from HS2 itself. My colleagues and I have raised these points for years, yet there continues to be a litany of errors from HS2. There have been internal emails that are rude and disrespectful about constituents. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report published earlier today refers to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report, which accused HS2 of being guilty of maladministration. I believe that that has characterised the way in which HS2 has dealt with people who have lost their houses, their businesses and their land.

[Victoria Prentis]

One of my greatest concerns about going forward without the Select Committee, which has been of enormous help to those of us whose constituents have been affected, is that there is nobody to help us mediate with HS2 Ltd and to encourage the company to respond to us in a timely fashion. There is no transparency about the way it does business. Does my right hon. Friend have any ideas to help us with this?

[Mrs Gillan]

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) said today from the Opposition Dispatch Box that transparency would be the watchword for HS2. I agree with my hon. Friend—transparency has not been the watchword for HS2. Right from the beginning, when the Major Projects Authority’s reports were withheld from this House and from the Select Committee that considered the Bill, there has been the reverse of transparency. That is what is so distressing about this project; it could have been handled so much better. It has let many people down.

Finally—I know that others want to speak—new clause 4 is designed to ensure that valuers with local knowledge are included on the HS2 panel, and that all compensation applications are responded to substantively within 10 weeks to avoid long periods of uncertainty for property owners on the route.

I started by saying that I was disappointed that the Minister dismissed my amendments before even hearing what I had to say today, so I am not expecting any positive response. But I have learned always to walk in hope, even on the impossible project of HS2, and I invite the Minister to accept my amendments today and add them to the Bill, thereby showing that he has the respect that I believe this House should have for the people whose lives are affected so drastically by HS2.

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[Mrs Gillan]

I again thank the Minister for that clarification.

[Victoria Prentis]

I am very concerned about the protection of ancient pastureland. In one particularly egregious case in my constituency, HS2 Ltd suggested that it replace ancient woodland on ancient pastureland, which is even rarer and more valuable.

[Mr Grieve]

rose—

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[Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) (Lab)]

New clauses 34 and 35, which I tabled, relate to construction at Canterbury Works and Alexandra Place in my constituency. I shall say something about the environmental impacts, but before that I want to make a point about the poor communication on the part of HS2, which has also been mentioned by Conservative Members.

Last October, along with volunteers, I delivered letters to constituents living near Canterbury Works. It was the first time that many of them had even heard of the plans, which is simply not good enough. Many of the people who live near Canterbury Works and the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate speak English as a second language, and HS2’s poor communication meant that they had no idea of what was coming along the tracks towards them as a result of this devastating scheme. My new clauses would change that situation, and give some information and assurances to the people whose lives will be blighted by the scheme.

At Canterbury Works, which is in the Brent area of my constituency, a vent shaft will be built in a very deprived area next to a school playground. Parents of pupils at the school have told me repeatedly how detrimental the construction will be to their children’s education, health and welfare. Arancha, a constituent and the parent of a pupil at the school, raised specific concerns about air pollution. She said:

“Children will be directly affected by the impact of noise levels from construction, causing disruption to their learning experience, in particular for the percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needs”.

Her concerns do not stand in isolation; they exist in a socioeconomic context that demands that south Kilburn be given a better deal than the upheaval being imposed by HS2. The areas surrounding the proposed vent shaft in Brent are in the top 1% in the country for income deprivation affecting children.

Let me turn to the other borough in my constituency, Camden. At Alexandra Place, another vent shaft will be built adjacent to crowded businesses and residential properties, and 100 vehicles a day will be emitting dangerous fumes within the confines of narrow roads that are surrounded on all sides by apartment buildings. Residents of a care home and the children living in the apartments on Alexandra Place will face increased risks to their health for many years. An article in The Sunday Times in October said that pollution in London was stunting the growth of children’s lungs, so when the Select Committee report states that “together” the two sites that I have named are “the most sensitive” locations for vent shafts in an urban area, its words should be taken seriously.

I know that there is not much time, so I shall finish by saying that I do not object to transport schemes or infrastructure projects without giving them the utmost consideration. However, I am proud to call my constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn home, because it is where I grew up, and the welfare of my constituents comes first. This scheme will blight their lives. It will affect the most vulnerable, and the years of construction will cause confusion and upheaval to people already living in deprived communities. This is my reason for speaking out against a scheme that will affect the most vulnerable in Hampstead and Kilburn.

[Victoria Prentis]

I should like to add my support to the amendments relating to the office of the adjudicator, which have been debated so well this afternoon. It is critical for my constituents to have someone who can intervene between them and HS2, and the cross-party, high-level legal support for those amendments should be noted by the Secretary of State and the House.

The amendments tabled in my name are specific and I shall deal with them briefly. New clause 23 relates to Mixbury. The estimated frequency of the trains means that the noise will be almost continuous in that unspoiled village, which has as many stables as houses. HS2 has failed to engage with the community in Mixbury—this is a good example of failure to engage—on the question of adequate noise mitigation. The community is so concerned that the villagers are considering fundraising to install noise barriers themselves. I would like the House to take note of that.

New clause 24 relates to Wardington, which, like so many areas in my constituency, has an existing traffic problem. HS2 construction traffic will turn that problem into a vision of hell. The Select Committee agreed that the village would struggle to cope. We have made sensible suggestions, including the movement of spoil by conveyor over the A43 and up the haul road. The new clause asks the Secretary of State to commission a review of the problem.

New clause 25 relates to bridleways. My constituency has been repeatedly dissected over the centuries, including by the Oxford-Birmingham canal and, 29 years ago, by the building of the M40. Both brought great benefits to our area, but our bridleways have suffered. I am determined that they should not suffer again, particularly in pursuit of a scheme that brings no benefit to my constituents.

Community Transport

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 16th December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr David Nuttall (in the Chair)]

Order.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

At this point, I will ask my hon. Friend to allow me to intervene.

[Andrew Bingham]

Yes, I think I had better have a sit down—we are all getting very hot under the collar.

[Victoria Prentis]

The debate is going to places that community transport does not normally reach.

[Andrew Bingham]

I said it was a good service.

[Victoria Prentis]

I am grateful for the marvellous volunteers who operate from the town of Banbury. They provide a good service for those who, sadly, have to travel to hospital, particularly early in the morning, when other forms of transport are not available. Does my hon. Friend agree, however, that other parts of the community also need services that are not provided by public buses, such as young people who have finished their education and who need to travel to work? People such as young apprentices also need to be able to take some form of public transport in rural constituencies.

[Andrew Bingham]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. There are so many potential uses for community transport, and she has remarked on just one.

The door-to-door service that operates in High Peak is trusted, consistent and valued. When we took people home with their shopping, we did not just drop them off; I helped them to the door, as the drivers do every week. In addition, Glossop Community Transport does many other things, and the potential of these organisations has been highlighted. The organisation’s out-and-about club is for people who would not otherwise get out and about in the community. People are taken on day trips—the constituency is 80 or 90 miles from Blackpool, and they are taken to things such as the illuminations.

That work relies on funding from Derbyshire County Council, but it also relies heavily on volunteers. Constituents, including friends and colleagues—people such as George and Jean Wharmby and Chris Webster—give up their time to drive the buses around the constituency and beyond and to assist the passengers. In short, the funding is not just about money to make the service operate; it levers in so much more than just money, bringing together people in the community, so that they work as a community, for the community. The benefits are therefore huge.

As we know, there have been necessary reductions in public spending, and Glossop Community Transport has played its part. In February, it joined forces with Bakewell and Eyam Community Transport, which is outside my constituency, but still in Derbyshire, to make savings. I am told that, since April, the new organisation has saved about £85,000, because the pooled resource has enabled a reduction in subsidy, and a move from two separate grants of £186,000.