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Vol. 800 Thursday No. 9 24 October 2019 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS Questions Transport: Buses.............................................................................................................671 Healthcare: Brain Tumours ............................................................................................673 Polio: Pakistan and Afghanistan ....................................................................................676 Syria: British Armed Forces ...........................................................................................678 Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill [HL] Duty to Plan for Terrorism (Consultation) Bill [HL] Storage Period for Gametes Bill [HL] Access to Palliative Care and Treatment of Children Bill [HL] Elections (Candidates’ Expenditure and Nominations) Bill [HL] First Readings .................................................................................................................681 Business of the House Timing of Debates ..........................................................................................................682 Brexit: Movement of Goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain Statement........................................................................................................................682 Neighbourhood Services: Government Support Motion to Take Note.......................................................................................................686 Syria and Iraq Question for Short Debate...............................................................................................712 Hong Kong Motion to Take Note......................................................................................................726 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-10-24 The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour Lab Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2019, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 671 Transport: Buses [24 OCTOBER 2019] Transport: Buses 672 House of Lords Lord Cormack (Con): My Lords, in relation to a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, Thursday 24 October 2019 will my noble friend the Minister try to ensure that all new buses have details of concessionary fares on the 11 am side? Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I shall certainly take that very good point back to the department. It is also Transport: Buses important to make sure that we make the most of the Question data that local operators have about their buses and collate it in one place, so that people can see information 11.07 am about where their bus is, and how much it will cost them, when they get on it. Asked by Baroness Randerson Toask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in welcoming have to encourage more people to travel by bus. the strategy, I am aware that we have seen numerous stories this week about levels of pollution, particularly TheParliamentaryUnder-Secretaryof State,Department along school runs, so we should do everything we can for Transport (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) (Con): My to get children on to buses where appropriate. However, Lords,theGovernmentareboostingbusservices,harnessing many buses are still very poor in terms of the pollution bus data and tackling congestion. To boost services, they create, which might take some years to go through. the new bus deal includes an additional £30 million on Is there any way in which the Government can help top of the £43 million already paid to local authorities. bus companies move more rapidly to zero emissions? To harness data, the bus open data digital service will collate real-time location and fare data. On congestion, we will update guidance to local authorities on bus Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The right reverend Prelate priority measures. is right, and pollution is a key element that we are taking forward in our strategy. To date, the Government have Baroness Randerson (LD): My Lords, despite some provided £240 million, which went towards 7,000 cleaner one-off initiatives, which of course one welcomes, we and better buses, but we must do more. In the new bus continue to face a bus emergency. For instance, 65% of package that was announced recently, one provision local authorities no longer provide free transport for was £50 million for the first all-electric bus town or 16 to 18 year-olds, and many bus services have been city. cut. Does the Minister agree that we need a national bus strategy to promote increased usage, zero-emission Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab): My Lords, this buses and more integrated services? Do the Government week, the Government announced that electric cars intend to reform and significantly increase funding for will be allowed to use bus lanes. Have the Government bus services to address the £650 million funding gap done a risk assessment of whether there will be any faced by local authorities and operators over concessionary delays to buses using their own lanes, therefore making fares? bus journeys longer for passengers? Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I am pleased to be able Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The noble Lord is right to agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson. It that that is one proposal on the table. It is not set in is critical that we have a national bus strategy. The stone that it will indeed be allowed to happen, but it is Government have already announced that we will put important that we make sure that people feel able to in place such a strategy. Going alongside that will be take up electric vehicles. They are very important to our commitment to long-term funding for the bus our future carbon strategy, and of course we are sector. looking at the impact on buses. The Earl of Listowel (CB): My Lords, I welcome the news of this bus strategy, but will the Minister Lord Tebbit (Con): Is my noble friend aware of the look at vulnerable groups, in particular parents who problems that are sometimes faced by rather old-fashioned are in temporary accommodation such as hostels and people seeking to take a journey by bus who want to bed and breakfast accommodation? Very often, they proffer their fare in money—cash? can be extremely isolated and may have to make many bus journeys to see their family and friends. Will the Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I thank my noble friend Government please look at that in their bus strategy? for his question. I am aware that that may be an issue for an increasingly small number of people. Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I thank the noble Earl for raising this issue. As the Minister for loneliness in Noble Lords: Oh! the Department for Transport, I know how important it is that we make sure that our transport system is able to get those people to where they need to go. We are Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I would encourage them currently scoping the bus strategy. I shall certainly to make full use of the different fare payment options include that within its remit. that are available. 673 Transport: Buses [LORDS] Healthcare: Brain Tumours 674 Lord Tunnicliffe (Lab): My Lords, for two years I Baroness Wheeler (Lab): My Lords, International was chairman of London Buses—it is the best bus Brain Tumour Awareness Week starts on Saturday, so service in the country—and I learned that buses are a it is timely to remember both patients and carers. Living key part of a fair society, carrying the young, the old, with a brain tumour often means coping with life-changing the sick and the poor. That is why the Labour Party symptoms, such as mental and emotional health issues, has committed to £1.3 billion of additional funding to communication and mobility problems. Carers also need restore the 3,000 cuts made by this Government, to local support in adjusting to these changes in the person regulation to optimise net social benefit and to free they care for, including coping with difficult behaviour bus fares for young people. Will the proposed strategy and personality changes, disorientation and confusion. match these commitments? Both Marie Curie and the Brain Tumour Charity have highlighted strong concern about inadequate