Speeches and parliamentary questions in the House of Commons in the 2008-9 sessionWhile speaking in the chamber of the House is a high profile activity for an MP, much other work is done elsewhere, in committee, as well as a large casework load for constituents. |
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04/11/09 West Coast Railway Line: Speed Limits 03/11/09 Rolling Stock 29/10/09 West Coast Railway Line: Speed Limits 29/10/09 Floods (Pitt Report) 20/10/09 Macedonia 14/10/09 NHS Dentistry 09/07/09 Lords should answer in Commons - 2 02/07/09 Road Safety Debate 02/07/09 Lords should answer in Commons 01/07/09 Prime Minister's Questions 01/07/09 Railways (North of England) 25/06/09 Cross-Border Transport Networks 15/06/09 Rural Communities in Recession 02/06/09 Community-Based Enterprises 28/04/09 Carlisle Businesses Benefit from Tax Deferment 02/04/09 Pitt Report 09/03/09 Department for Transport: Railways 12/02/09 Sustainable Railways 12/02/09 New Trains (Investment) 27/01/09 West Coast Main Line 17/12/08 Pitt Report: Flood Insurance |
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether there are plans to improve the signalling on the West Coast Main Line to enable 135 mph running speeds. [296829]
Chris Mole, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport: The Government have no plans for 135 miles per hour (mph) running. The West Coast Main Line was recently modernised and resignalled to permit significantly more 125 mph operations across the route. This has significantly reduced journey times and provided more frequent services for millions of passengers every year.
In January the Government established the High Speed Two company which, by the end of the year, will make a proposal for an entirely new line between London and the West Midlands and advise on the potential development of the high speed network to the north of England and Scotland.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether there are any plans to extend to 11 carriages all of the 52 Pendolino trains. [296885]
Chris Mole, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport: The option to extend the remaining 21 Pendolino trains to 11 carriages is currently being considered by the Department for Transport and we intend to make a decision by the end of the year on whether we wish to progress this option further.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether there are plans for the improvement of the West Coast Main Line track north of Preston to increase running speeds. [296830]
Chris Mole, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport: The recently completed modernisation of the West Coast Main Line maximised the opportunities for line speed improvements north of Preston. While the curvature of the line limits speeds in a number of places, significant sections of 125 miles per hour running have been delivered bringing greatly reduced journey times for passengers.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): The Pitt inquiry states that the public utilities should be protected - the fresh water, electricity and waste water plants. That was especially a problem when Carlisle flooded. Has satisfactory progress been made on that?
Huw Irranca-Davies, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: That is an important point and I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that we set up a new Cabinet Office team to ensure that critical national infrastructure - for example, power stations - is properly protected from flooding. If we are lucky in what may be in the Queen's Speech - we can never second-guess it - there is an imperative under the Labour Government to get on and deliver the legislation that will give further protection to homes, businesses and infrastructure.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government are providing support to the Government of Macedonia in their application for membership of the European Union. [293923]
Chris Bryant, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office: The UK strongly supports Macedonia's EU membership aspirations and welcomes the Commission's recent recommendation to open accession negotiations.
The Government co-operate with EU partners to encourage the required reforms in Macedonia. Alongside its contribution to financing programmes under the EU's Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), the Government are providing bilateral support in 2009-10 of around £890,000.
UK projects include work designed to improve Macedonia's public administrative capacity, strengthen its Parliament, and help fight corruption.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): My right hon. and learned Friend will remember that at the last business questions I asked a question, and I shall ask it again because we need clarity. Will the Leader of the House arrange a debate on the issue of Secretaries of State in the other place not being able to make statements to this House and not being answerable to this House? There is great concern among Members in this place that those Secretaries of State are not answerable to the House of Commons.
Ms Harriet Harman, Leader of the House: I can say no more to my hon. Friend than I said last week, which is that there are Ministers from every Department accountable to hon. Members in this House.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): May I ask my right hon. and learned Friend whether she will find time for a debate on changing the procedures of this House? Can we have a debate on allowing Secretaries of State who are Members of the House of Lords to come to this Dispatch Box to make statements and answer questions? Yesterday, a statement was made in the House of Lords about the east coast main line and four hours later it was made in the Commons by a very able but junior Minister - that cannot be right.
Ms Harriet Harman, Leader of the House: The timing of that statement was dictated not only by the difference between the Lords and the Commons timing and scheduling of business on Wednesdays, but by market sensitivity and the need to say something before either the House of Lords or this House was sitting, because of market information. Obviously we try to ensure that we bring information to the House as soon as possible. This was a question of balancing the need to ensure that very important and controversial House business was not interrupted by the need to ensure that the House had an opportunity to question the transport Minister. I understand the concerns, but I do not think that there was any easy solution to the situation yesterday.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): There has been a great deal of talk about the modernisation of the House, but I would like to ask the Prime Minister whether we could go back in time - to when we had Prime Minister's Question Time twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There would be much more accountability to Back Benchers, the questions would be more topical and the Chamber would be much better attended on Thursdays.
The Prime Minister: That is an idea on which Mr. Speaker may wish to consult.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): I am sorry to interrupt my hon. Friend's excellent speech. Given the news today about National Express and the possible loss of the franchise, would it not be helpful if the Minister could give us an update on the present situation when he winds up?
Ms Angela C. Smith: My hon. Friend may not have heard the Minister's initial comments to the effect that there will be a statement to the whole House this afternoon. We undertook not to say anything on the basis that it would undermine the rights of the House.
Mr. Martlew: I apologise for being late.
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Mr. Martlew: Will my hon. Friend give way?
Graham Stringer: I have mentioned Cumbria, so I am delighted to give way to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Martlew: I understand what my hon. Friend says, but does he accept that Cumbria comprises 45 per cent. of the land mass of the North-West?
Graham Stringer: I do accept that. It is a fact. I am talking about expenditure per head of population, which is a reasonable basis for comparison.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): You, Mr. Speaker, will be aware that there is no greater enthusiast for the high-speed line than myself. As the line passes through my Carlisle constituency on the way to Scotland, will the funding be a Scottish or a UK responsibility? The line starts in London and in Glasgow and meets somewhere in the middle.
Mr. Sadiq Khan, Minister of State, Department for Transport: I thank my hon. Friend for his really helpful question. He will be aware that the Department for Transport is responsible for cross-border franchise train services, and that we work closely with the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Executive. The important thing is to ensure that the quality of service that passengers receive is the right one. It is also important to have proper communications between Members on both sides of the border. There are examples of good practice, but also, I am afraid, of bad practice, but I will endeavour to ensure that we learn the lessons so that the quality of service that passengers receive is seamless.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): Sometime, when the hon. Gentleman has time, I will tell him the history of Kendal general hospital.
The reality is that we cannot get consultants with the necessary skills to come to many of our small hospitals. My hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Mr. Reed) knows that to some extent. Without the size, we will not get the skilled consultants. We can build a hospital, but we will not get people to work there.
Tim Farron (Westmoreland and Lonsdale, LibDem): I appreciate that in many rural areas it is more difficult to attract a certain number of applicants for positions, but at Westmoreland general hospital there were consultants available and the unit was operating. It was a life-saving service, and many hundreds of people owe their lives to it. It would have continued had the trust allowed it to do so, and had the trust been accountable it would never have got away with closing it.
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Mr. Martlew: I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. What percentage of his work force is claiming jobseeker's allowance?
Mr. Walter: I do not have those figures immediately to hand, but I will come back to the hon. Gentleman. The percentage is relatively low - probably just over 2 per cent., but the trend and the effect of the increases on the community are worrying. All those people have lost their jobs, with little prospect of getting new ones in the short term.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on the role of community-based enterprises in the future jobs fund. [277622]
John Healey, Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government: Social Enterprises can tackle worklessness by creating sustainable jobs for people who find it difficult to enter the labour market and increasing enterprise levels among women, under-represented groups and young people.
On 13 May my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State chaired a seminar attended by the Prime Minister; the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; the Minister for the Cabinet Office and myself. Also attending were leading social entrepreneurs and social enterprise practitioners.
We challenged the community and social enterprise sector to take up the opportunities and the challenge that the Future Job Fund offers. We want to see social enterprises creating as many jobs as they can through the Future Jobs Fund; perhaps up to 10 per cent. of the 150,000 envisaged through the fund.
On 12 May the Secretary of State attended a Social Enterprise summit at Coin Street Community Builders along with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Regulatory Reform; and the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
A summary of the discussion at the summit is available on the Cabinet Office website:
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/210555/summit_report.pdf
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): Many small businesses in my constituency have suffered from the problems of the credit crunch. However, they have benefited from the "time to pay" initiative, which is a Government initiative that allows them to defer tax. Has any assessment been made of how many businesses in Carlisle have benefited from that?
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Stephen Timms): Yes; we are monitoring carefully the impact of that service around the country. I can tell my hon. Friend that more than 1,200 businesses in Cumbria have benefited, enabling them to defer, between them, £15 million. Across the country 116,000 businesses have deferred £2.1 billion in tax, very often with a single phone call. I met a company chairman last week who described the service to me as "brilliant". We are providing real help now for businesses in my hon. Friend's constituency and across the country.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): Will my right hon. Friend congratulate the Environment Agency in my constituency, which, following the floods of 2005, has done a magnificent job of building flood defences? Three quarters of the city is now protected, and it was done on time and on budget. However, coming back to the Pitt report, the really important thing is protecting public utilities - the electricity supply, the fresh water supply and the waste water supply. Is that work being done?
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: The short answer to my hon. Friend's question is yes. A programme of work is under way. As I previously reported to the House, one example of that is the purchase by the national grid of moveable defences that can be taken to particular parts of the network that might be at risk. The flood forecasting centre is all about giving better warnings and greater accuracy about where there will be a problem, so that people are forewarned, prepared and can respond.
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words about the Environment Agency. I know that his constituents suffered grievously in the terrible floods. It is right and proper that, as well as recognising that we need to do more, the House wants to say thank you to the agency's staff, because the 55 flood defence schemes and 37,000 homes that have been protected since the summer of 2007 are down to their hard work.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): I ask my right hon. Friend to ignore the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers)l; I would remind him that the Tories cancelled the high-speed train for the west coast main line. I am pleased that John Laing’s, which started as a small building company in my constituency, is playing a major part in the project. However, the reality is that we get new trains from various suppliers, yet in this country we still do not have an adequate test track. If we are not careful and if we do not get that test track, we will build the trains but send them to Germany to be tested. Will my right hon. Friend look at that?
The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point about testing. Providing space on the network for the kind of high-speed running that is required to test new vehicles is an issue when our existing network is so busy, so I will certainly look at his suggestion.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): My right hon. Friend said earlier that it was not the quality of the upgrade that was the problem, but is it not a fact that the real problem, not just on the west coast main line but throughout the country, is the poor quality of maintenance on our railways? This is because there is a skills shortage, from project management to technicians. What are the Government going to do to improve the skills on the railways?
The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): I made it clear earlier that we will not, in any way, allow compromises to be made on safety - and that applies specifically to maintaining our railway network. It is vital that passengers and staff on the railways should have complete confidence in the equipment that they use. My hon. Friend is right to emphasise the importance of maintaining and improving skill levels, and that is why the Government are committed to an extensive programme of apprenticeships to ensure that we have the necessary skills for the future, not only on the west coast main line but across our rail network.
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle): As my right hon. Friend will be aware, there was severe flooding in Carlisle. The flood defences are now being built, however, thanks to the good efforts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), who I see is just leaving the Chamber. Is the Secretary of State sure that the private utilities are prepared and that they have learned the lessons? They had not done so after Carlisle, and there were also problems in the west country with losing water. Furthermore, once the flood defences are built, will my right hon. Friend put pressure on the insurance companies to bring down the premiums in the areas that have been defended?
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn): My hon. Friend and his constituents know all about the devastating impact of flooding. He has been able to demonstrate how we have responded, and how we are trying to prevent further flooding in Carlisle. I want to give the House some practical examples in relation to the critical infrastructure. The National Grid has bought 1.2 km of temporary flood defences, which it is storing at a number of locations around the country. In the event of flood warnings being given, it will be able to use those defences to protect its assets. Indeed, defences have already been put around Walham and Castle Mead sub-stations. We have also issued new guidance to Ofwat, requiring water companies to consider vulnerability, and about £1 billion of investment is being proposed by companies in their draft business plans to increase resilience. Plans for protecting all national critical sites will be in place by the end of 2009.
We will continue our discussions with the insurance companies, because it is important that people are able to avail themselves of the cover.
Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO
| On behalf of Eric Martlew, 3 Chatsworth Square Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1HB |