Contributions
2,622 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillI thank the noble Lord for that intervention, but what he notes are the counterfactual opportunity costs of not having to do those upgrades. I am not sure how they would factor…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillI just want to apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, because I did not hear him mention the road names and now I feel very silly that I did not. I also want to say that in my…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillWell, okay, I thank the noble Baroness for her further intervention. I am not wholly the wiser as to what she is trying to do here. She has mentioned the shock of Crossrail. I was…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, before I turn to this amendment I need to apologise. There was an error in my speaking note on Monday which I need to rectify. The error was in the statement that I made…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, are entered into voluntarily with the consent of both parties. In the case of the HS2 programme, NDAs are used for good reason and in…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, connectivity between HS2 and the wider network and the impacts of HS2 on that network are critical concerns. The central aim of HS2 is to improve connectivity along its…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillI thank my noble friend Lady Gardner for joining the Committee and sharing her thoughts with us. I am pleased that she supports HS2. She raised some issues about Birmingham, and I…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, the impact of the works on local communities is of critical importance to the Government, and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, for tabling his amendment to allow us…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, I knew there was a reason why I was looking forward to this one. I would be very grateful if the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, could send me the article about party walls; I…12 Nov 2020HANSARDHigh Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) BillMy Lords, when I saw the first group for this second day in Committee I thought, “This is going to be Second Reading territory” and, lo and behold, it was the case. I thank all…12 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesMy noble friend is right: an empty double-decker bus careening through narrow country lanes simply will not do. One of the solutions that may be appropriate for rural areas is…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesI partially agree with the noble Lord in that it is key for all local services, wherever they are, to be integrated with other modes, be they long-distance coach-type journeys or…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesMy Lords, we believe that local authorities have a significant role to play in ensuring that we protect rural bus services. To that extent, local authorities receive £43 million…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesI have some sympathy with my noble friend in that longer-term funding can sometimes indeed be more efficient. However, it should be said that short-term funding and competitions…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesWhat the Minister accepts is that we must always strive to improve our bus services. In February 2020 the Prime Minister talked about his view for the bus network, with more…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesMy Lords, the Government are developing a national bus strategy to set out how national and local government and the private sector will come together to meet the needs of local…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesAs I mentioned, the Government are working extremely hard on the national bus strategy. The sort of proposals that the noble Baroness outlined are the sort of things that we are…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesIt was a little hard to hear the noble Baroness’s question but I believe it was about funding local councils. These considerations are of course being had as we think about the…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesMy noble friend is quite right. I assure him that the national bus strategy will include measures suitable for all parts of the country, whether dense urban settings, market…11 Nov 2020HANSARDRural Bus ServicesMy Lords, the Government support local authority spending by around £1 billion a year so that older and disabled people can travel on buses; £877 million of that is on statutory…11 Nov 2020