Thursday Volume 584 10 July 2014 No. 22 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday 10 July 2014 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2014 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 419 10 JULY 2014 420 David Rutley: I welcome the recent growth deal House of Commons announcement and the £16.4 million of funding that will be put to good use on the Poynton relief road. Does Thursday 10 July 2014 my hon. Friend agree that that will not only reduce traffic congestion for the residents in Poynton, but enhance the strategic links to Macclesfield’s science The House met at half-past Nine o’clock community? PRAYERS Mr Goodwill: Yes, that is very good news for the residents of Poynton, Macclesfield and the whole of east Cheshire. The scheme to link the A6 to the Manchester [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] airport relief road, to which the Government are contributing £165 million, will improve access to the significant employment opportunities that are being Oral Answers to Questions developed at the Manchester airport city enterprise zone. TRANSPORT Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab): Listening to the Minister, one would never guess that the National Audit Office has warned that the Government’s The Secretary of State was asked— approach is not good enough to fix the pothole epidemic on our local roads, which is aggravating congestion; Mr Speaker: On Question 1, I call Chi Onwurah. Not that the Local Government Association has expressed here. the concern that the Government’s roads policy will Congestion (Roads) lead to gridlock on local roads; that bus use outside London is down, not up; or that British Cycling has 2. Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con): What expressed disappointment that the Government are not plans he has to relieve congestion on roads. [904752] providing the leadership that is needed to get people out of their cars and to walk or cycle. This is not jam 9. David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con): What plans he tomorrow; it is traffic jams today. Is it not time that the has to relieve congestion on roads. [904761] Minister got a grip? The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill): Before I answer the question, I Mr Goodwill: I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman should explain that, as you and the Opposition Front can keep a straight face as he says that. We are tripling Benchers will be aware, Mr Speaker, the Secretary of road investment in the Highways Agency’s infrastructure. State is unable to attend Transport questions this morning We have substantially increased the investment for local because of his duties attending on Her Majesty the authorities to address the pothole problem. More money Queen in Derbyshire. was announced in the Budget and following the bad Road investment is central to our long-term economic weather at Christmas. This Government realise that we plan. We are spending more than £24 billion on strategic should be improving our infrastructure and mending roads between 2010 and 2021. A further £7.4 billion will our roads. It is not only the roof that the Labour party be spent on local roads in the next Parliament, together did not mend in government; it did not mend the roads with £1.5 billion of funding from the local growth fund either. that was announced on Monday. That will bring forward much needed schemes such as the Bury St Edmunds Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con): Does my hon. eastern relief road in Suffolk. All the schemes are designed Friend accept that the A12 through Essex and on to the to relieve congestion and open up growth across the ports and the hinterland of East Anglia is severely country. congested, and that the best way to relieve that congestion would be to turn it into a motorway? Will he update the Dr Coffey: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I House on what is being done to evaluate that proposition, welcome the growth deal for the New Anglia local following the answer that the Secretary of State gave to enterprise partnership, which will help to relieve the me two Question Times ago? congestion on many roads. May I make a bid for support for the A12 in Suffolk Coastal, and particularly for the stretches of the road that will be used heavily by Mr Goodwill: The A12 is certainly featuring prominently Sizewell C construction traffic? There is the possibility today. My right hon. Friend is a great exponent of the of a four-villages bypass involving Stratford St Andrew proposal to upgrade the A12 to motorway status. The and Farnham. last time he raised this matter, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said: Mr Goodwill: I know that my hon. Friend is disappointed that the four-villages bypass was not included on this “My right hon. Friend makes an interesting suggestion. No occasion, but we are still looking at that possibility. doubt he will pursue that argument with me and the authorities Indeed, I was in Norfolk and Suffolk last week undertaking on a number of occasions to come.”—[Official Report, 20 March 2014; Vol. 577, c. 892.] —dare I say it—a “tour d’East Anglia”. I looked at the A12 and the A47, which are greatly in need of improvement. This is just one more of those occasions. 421 Oral Answers10 JULY 2014 Oral Answers 422 Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD): I constituency, and the benefits that that will bring to the know the Secretary of State visited the west country a local economy. Will he give an idea of the similar few weeks ago. Did he come back as committed as benefits that might be provided by HS2? I have been for 30 years to finally doing something to improve the iconic A303? Stephen Hammond: It is only fair for me to recognise the extraordinary efforts of my hon. Friend in ensuring Mr Goodwill: I had the pleasure of travelling down that high-speed rail comes to Deal. I also recognise the the A30-A303 corridor with another colleague who has extraordinary efforts of my hon. Friend the Member an interest in that matter. A number of areas along that for Hastings and Rye (Amber Rudd), who is making the road were pointed out to me, including the difficult same case. HS2 will make an important contribution to Stonehenge area and the Blackdown hills area, which is securing prosperity across the country. It will generate more difficult for another reason, and where there is jobs and rebalance the economy, and our estimates some low-hanging fruit that I hope we can address. suggest that there will be more than £70 billion of That is one of six key routes that we have identified as benefits, including £53 billion of benefits to business. needing improvement, and I suspect that my hon. Friend will have to wait for the autumn statement to hear Mr Sheerman: That’s £80 billion of wasted taxpayers’ further news. money. Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op): Does the Minister agree that congestion on our roads is the Regional Airports one thing saving our safety record from plunging even further—as he knows, it has now plunged below that of 4. Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab): What assessment Sweden? Many more young people are being killed on he has made of the level of domestic and international motorcycles under his watch. Does he think it time we connectivity provided by regional airports. [904756] went back to targets on reduction so that we can look after people on the roads? The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill): The Government value the domestic Mr Goodwill: I have only one target for casualties on and international connectivity that the UK’s regional the road, and that is a target of zero. The UK, along airports provide. They make a vital contribution to the with Sweden, has the safest roads not only in Europe growth and recovery of regional and local economies, but in the world. Although it was disappointing to see a benefiting businesses and passengers alike. small increase in the number of motorcycle fatalities last year, in all other areas we have seen improvements owing to a number of factors, not least the investment Chris Ruane: The first hovercraft passenger service in that we put into better roads in this country. the world was from Rhyl to Wirral more than 50 years ago, and currently three hovercraft companies want to Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): One way of restart that. One of them—Hoverlink—wants to establish reducing congestion in the west midlands would be the a link to Liverpool airport from north Wales. Will the new M6 south link to the M54 in Shropshire. Will the Minister meet a delegation of MPs involved in that, and Minister join me in continuing to petition the Treasury Hoverlink, to establish what could be the first hovercraft to ensure that funds are available for that within the link to an airport in the world? next few years? Mr Goodwill: I was expecting to be asked about Mr Goodwill: My hon. Friend the Member for surface connectivity, but travelling on the surface of the Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) has also water is a novel idea. That is an exciting idea, and I raised that issue with me on a number of occasions, and would be delighted to meet those involved, and possibly I note the aspirations to upgrade that road to having even take a ride on one of those vehicles.