Category: Transportation

  • Clive Bossom – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    Clive Bossom – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    The speech made by Clive Bossom, the then Conservative MP for Leominster, in the House of Commons on 23 February 1966.

    I wish to make my position clear at the beginning of my speech. I was wholly opposed to the 70 m.p.h. speed limit on the motorways, and for the same reason as was put forward by Mr. Wilfred Andrews, Chairman of the R.A.C., who pointed out yesterday that it can be proved that the great majority of accidents in this country occur at speeds below 40 m.p.h.

    So far, no evidence has been produced in relation to the 70 m.p.h. limit. The Ministry, in its wisdom, instituted this experiment. I am never against experiments if they are going to cut down the loss of life or improve road safety. However, very begrudgingly, I was willing to let it have a fair trial if it went on until only 13th April. Most people said at the time that the decision was ill-considered and far too hurried. Most hon. Members have received a large postbag of letters from motoring clubs and other organisations expressing unanimous disapproval of what they consider yet another restriction on the motorist.

    At Question Time on 9th February, the Minister was unable to give me any assurance that she would remove this restriction on 13th April. I hope that she will state tonight what information she is asking for, and whether conclusions will be based on full scientific assessment or just on “hunches”. If the conclusions and statistics are not satisfactory—and many of us believe that the Road Research Laboratory, the police and the motoring organisations will not have enough time to form definite conclusions by 13th April—what is the Minister planning to do in that case? We must know that tonight.

    We have had many arguments tonight about “overtaking”, “bunching” which caused the multiple crashes. The hon. Member for Meriden (Mr. Rowland) mentioned America. Driving on high speed roads in America at a constant speed in nose to tail queues, I found, in the end, led to lack of concentration. Many accidents there occur because of drowsiness and boredom caused by driving at constant speeds. What we must bring home to the Minister is that it is no good having speed limits which are hard or nearly impossible to enforce—and this limit will be one such. Motorists will soon realise that that law cannot be fully enforced, and will gradually take little or no notice of it. This will harm relationships between public and police, which is something we do not want.

    I ask the Minister to take a long, close and scientific look into this question before she makes up her mind. She must not continue to impose the restriction, even experimentally, unless there is clear evidence to justify it.

  • Daniel Awdry – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    Daniel Awdry – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    The speech made by Daniel Awdry, the then Conservative MP for Chippenham, in the House of Commons on 23 February 1966.

    I wish to make only three points on the subject of motorways, but I should like to say at the beginning that I really do believe that this experiment is totally misconceived. I realise that there is a need for some restriction on motorways in conditions of fog—we all realise that—but that really does not justify the total restriction in good weather conditions.

    My first point is on the question of danger. As a result of this restriction there will be a tendency for drivers to drive up to the limit of 70 m.p.h., and that will produce bunching. My right hon. Friend fully developed this point and I do not wish to enlarge upon it, because other Members probably wish to speak, but the real trouble with bunching is that when an accident does occur more vehicles are involved and the accident is far worse. I speak with some experience because I drive quite regularly on the M.4 motorway. This bunching, I believe, will cause great difficulties, because people will tend to try to pass a line of traffic on the inside.

    My second point relates to the experiment itself. I ask the Minister to give us tonight an assurance that no permanent regulations will be imposed till a full report of the results of this experiment has been published, and all the interested organisations have been given an opportunity to comment on it. I myself very much doubt whether a short experiment of this kind is capable of giving a conclusive result one way or another, and I ask the Minister to give us one further assurance, that she does not intend to extend the period of the experiment before she publishes the report.

    My third point is on a slightly different aspect. Obviously, motorways were built to enable people to drive more quickly. This step will restrict the fastest cars of our country to half their maximum capacity and speed. I believe that this will discourage the development by the motor industry of new, high-performance models, and this is a field in which we have a very substantial export success. This is a serious point: a permanent limit of this kind would have an adverse effect on vehicle design.

    I have received a number of letters, as has my right hon. Friend, and all the letters I have received unanimously condemn these Regulations, which I personally believe to be a step in the wrong direction.

  • Martin Redmayne – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    Martin Redmayne – 1966 Speech on Abolishing 70 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit

    The speech made by Martin Redmayne, the then Conservative MP for Rushcliffe, in the House of Commons on 23 February 1966.

    I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Motorways Traffic (Temporary Speed Limit) (England) Regulations 1965 (S.I., 1965, No. 2063) dated 3rd December, 1965, a copy of which was laid before this House on 16th December, 1965, be annulled. I hope that it may be convenient, Mr. Speaker, to discuss at the same time the three other Motions standing in my name and the names of some of my hon. Friends: That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Motorways Traffic (Temporary Speed Limit) (Scotland) Regulations 1965 (S.I., 1965, No. 2078), dated 9th December, 1965, a copy of which was laid before this House on 16th December, 1965, be annulled. That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Motorways Traffic (Temporary Speed Limit) (Wales) Regulations 1965 (S.I., 1965, No. 2083), dated 9th December, 1965, a copy of which was laid before this House on 16th December, 1965, be annulled. and That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Traffic Signs (Motorways Speed Limits) Regulations, 1965 (S.I., 1965, No. 2085), dated 9th December, 1965, a copy of which was laid before this House on 16th December, 1965, be annulled.

    Mr. Speaker

    If the House has no objection, so be it.

    Sir M. Redmayne

    We have little time and I shall try to be brief on a subject on which I would have a good deal to say. I want to devote my time almost wholly to the speed limit on the motorways because I believe that it is here that the limit is most subject to criticism. Some people outside have expressed surprise that we should pray against these Orders during the course of the experiment. They fail to realise that the procedures of the House compel us to do so and before the end of this week if we are not to lose our only opportunity of contributing a corporate view before the Minister makes up her mind whether or not to impose a permanent limit.

    We shall not seek to divide the House, because it is pointless to do so in the middle of a review, but I make it clear that we reserve our position at a later stage. It is also worth noting that the general speed limit on roads other than motorways does not appear before the House at all. That is how it is laid down in the Act and if necessary we shall have to seek remedies for that if we wish as a later stage to debate the limits as a whole.

    I hope the House will forgive me if a lot of what I say is in the first person, because I constantly drive on the M.1 and the M.4 and have driven on the M.6 since the limit was imposed. In using the first person I am repeating also views put to me in much correspondence on the subject. The letters I have received on the subject have been most moderately expressed and most clearly argued when they have been against the limit. I particularly want to put that on record because it has been suggested that those against the limit are in some sense irresponsible.

    I want to enumerate flatly and without embroidery a number of dangers which have become common on the M.1. It is my impression that the speeds in the slower lane have increased since the speed limit was put on and certainly the centre lane driving seems now to be seldom more than five miles an hour slower than in the fast lane. I think that is a smaller differentiation than used to exist.

    In the fast lane, few seem to travel over 70 miles an hour but they do travel at that speed and are noticeably frustrated if held up by someone whose speed drops even by a mile or two. Therefore two situations arise. First, one finds that more drivers stick to the outside lane than used to and this also applies in the case of a 40 m.p.h. limit. It is a feature of limiting speed. Some drivers appear to think, it seems to me, that they can go into the outside lane merely because they have as much right to be there as anyone else and some also seem to take the view that there is no need for them to look behind in their reflecting mirrors because, if they are travelling at 70 m.p.h. legally they cannot be overtaken.

    Secondly, since the differentiation in speed between the outside and the centre lanes is now so much less than it used to be, the available space to move into the centre lane from the outside is both less and is harder to find because, as those driving on the motorways know, in looking for a space to move into the centre lane one cannot accelerate beyond 70 because, if one does so, one is breaking the law.

    The result of this is a strong tendency for traffic to bunch and quite frequently one finds oneself in bunches of cars three abreast in the three lanes and six or so deep, all travelling at near enough the same speed. This happens two or three times in a journey between London and Nottingham, for example, and two or three times is enough. This happens in winter traffic and it will happen very much more when we get to the holiday traffic in the summer if the limit is continued. All the time these cars tread on each other’s heels much more than they used to and it is only those who break the law who can ease the pressure.

    But there are other dangers. We all know that cross-winds are very tricky on the motorways and the more vehicles are abreast, the more risk of danger there is and in wet weather—and this is a point which must be taken into consideration—vehicle spray, at all times a menace on the motorways, in these conditions of compulsory bunching is positively dangerous.

    Even if there is no bunching, the dangers arising from reduced differentials of speed are still considerable. Before the limit, both passing and regaining one’s position on the motorway were long-term operations—a long swing out and a long swing in—and this is much safer for all concerned. But the same manoeuvre now that we have the lower differentials of speed is in nearly every case too quickly out and too quickly back. This is very often accompanied—and I have seen this time and time again—by a reduction of speed as soon as the centre lane is regained, because the man passing has so often gone up to 72 or 73 m.p.h. and at once conscientiously comes back to 70 m.p.h., with the result that he immediately pancakes with the car behind.

    There is a very good film put out by the right hon. Lady’s Ministry showing how passing on the motorway should be done, and it makes the very point that the driver should look first for the car which is coming up fast from behind and let it go. But now, for the majority of drivers on the motorways, nothing comes up fast. Everything creeps up and I say flatly that it is often infernally difficult to know what is safe and what is not.

    Equally, I dislike intensely driving with another car running at the same speed as myself tucked away behind my right or my left shoulder. It does not matter how many mirrors one has—and I have as many as anybody else—in certain conditions there is always a point at which it is far too hard to see that car, not passing one, but just sitting there hoping to slip through if one slows down a little and he can ease his way past.

    I do not like the hooting which one now finds going on, nor the flashing of lights. I do not like to see cars passing others on the inside, or creeping up on the inside, and this is happening all the time. Most of all I dislike those who obstruct others with a self-conscious virtue and I believe that speedometer watching for the purpose of keeping within the 70 m.p.h. limit when the eyes of the driver should be on the road is itself dangerous.

    There is no question but that a man drives best at his car’s best cruising speed and today many are driving less well and less safely only because the limit forces them below their natural cruising speed, or in the case of others—and I am sure that this is so—because of the existence of the limit they are persuaded to cruise up to that speed.

    What one wants is for drivers on the motorway to have nothing to do except look far ahead and see where trouble is coming, both so that they can avoid it and so that they can help others behind them to avoid it—and that is enormously important. Some of the multiple crashes which we have had and perhaps because of which the limit was imposed—I am talking about crashes in clear weather and not in the fog—occurred because drivers were not looking far enough ahead and did not have the sense to slow up ahead of trouble, or the sense to keep touching their brakes so as to keep their lights flashing as they were slowing. Unless this kind of technique is adopted, there will be no safety and in these conditions the danger is greater than before.

    Instead of that we get motorists sweating along because they are worrying about the cars immediately in front of them, immediately behind and lurking on their flanks. This cannot be safe. I am going to say nothing about speed as such, nothing about the need to manufacture fast cars for the export trade, and nothing about the motorways being built for speed. All of these subjects tend to be emotive arguments and I want to keep on a practical basis.

    All I want to try to do is to put the arguments of the ordinary motorist driving an ordinarily fast car. If this debate were to go on long enough—but it will not—someone would be sure to say that speed is a killer. It is not speed that kills; it is foolhardiness, impatience, bad temper. All of these killing faults are as common at low speeds as at high speeds.

    I want to deal with the advertisements which the previous Minister of Transport used to launch the limit. In those advertisements the National Opinion Poll was quoted as showing 60 per cent. of motorists in favour of the limit and 38 per cent. against. I am not elaborating the arguments, but I doubt very much whether 60 per cent. of motorists drive at over 70 m.p.h. anyhow, and they are automatically in favour of the limit. Equally, I know that 40 per cent. of motorists do not drive over 70 m.p.h. as a matter of habit and that in the 38 per cent. there is a very large proportion of sensible people who consider that it is perfectly reasonable and safe for the others to be allowed to drive at those speeds if they wish to do so.

    Since I am going to refer to the American survey, which is another part of these advertisements, I would point out that in the survey the number of drivers habitually driving at 70 m.p.h. in America—and, after all, this limit has been largely based on American experience—is only 5 per cent. In these advertisements there is a statement which runs as follows: There is evidence that the average casualty rate for drivers exceeding 70 m.p.h. is about three times that for drivers travelling between 65 m.p.h. and 70 m.p.h. I put a Question down to the Minister asking on what information this statement was based and I was told that it was based on an American publication called “Accidents on Main Rural Highways.” There is now a copy in the Library. I say quite baldly that, in that the advertisement makes this statement, it is an outstanding example of the selective use of statistics, particularly in respect of motorways in this country because it says that the survey undertaken was expressly confined to two-and four-lane roads of the non-freeway type. In other words, it was confined to ordinary roads as we know them. It also says that the design speed of those roads was never more than 70 m.p.h. and mostly 55 m.p.h. or 60 m.p.h., sometimes as low as 45 m.p.h. Thus it gives no useful information about motorways of the kind we have which are designed for much higher speeds.

    It also shows that the rate of accidents on four-lane highways, the largest road with which it deals, is considerably lower than on two-lane, and one understands that. It permits the obvious assumption that the accident rate on six-lane motorways of high speed design would have been shown to be lower still, as it is in this country.

    With direct reference to this figure of three times the accident rate mentioned in the advertisement I want to say that, having studied the report, both its graphs and tables, if the Minister wishes to advertise that the injury rate per 100 million miles over 70 m.p.h. is three times that at 65–70 m.p.h., she, or her predecessor, should in all honesty have made it clear that the injury rate at speeds of 30 m.p.h. to 40 m.p.h. is also three times as much as 65 m.p.h. to 70 m.p.h. It is an inverse curve. At lower speeds still, the injury rate is very much higher. If it is put in straight figures taken from the report it is shown that by day, of a sample total of 2,151 drivers, the number injured at speeds over 73 m.p.h. is 68, or 3.5 cent. The number injured at speeds between 63 and 72 m.p.h. is shown as 180, or about 9 per cent., and the remainder of the sample, numbering 1,900 injured persons, were all travelling below 63 m.p.h. and the majority considerably below. This was, therefore, a peculiar use of a random statistic taken from a report which reached very different conclusions.

    That is all I want to say about motorways. As to other roads, much of these arguments equally apply.

    Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Samuel Storey)

    The right hon. Gentleman cannot deal with other roads on this Prayer.

    Sir M. Redmayne

    Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. That will save the time of the House. I have said enough even in that one sentence to make my point and I can return to it on some other Parliamentary occasion.

    My remaining comments refer to the 30 m.p.h. advisory limit. It has been little used since it was enforced, and that is a good thing, because conditions have not made it necessary. When it was used, I was rather surprised that so much comment was made of the fact that drivers were on occasion driving faster than 30 m.p.h. Newspaper comments pointed out how many vehicles swept past their reporters who were driving at 30 m.p.h. Clearly, they misapprehend the purpose of the Order, as is clearly set out in Regulation 4, that a driver shall obey the flashing signs and drive at a speed which does not exceed 30 miles per hour and is safe having regard to any hazard which he may encounter until it is safe for him to drive at a greater speed. That is clearly set down. It means simply that having had warning of a hazard, if the hazard is observed the driver can therefore judge what speed is safe, or if, for example, the hazard is fog and the fog is sufficiently clear for him to drive at more than 30 m.p.h., he is at liberty to do so with reasonable caution So much for that point. It needs to be made clear.

    On previous occasions, I have put to the Minister a different suggestion about how the fog hazard could be met: that was, by a chain of lights down the centre divide. I should like to draw the attention of the House and of the Minister to a very good article by Raymond Baxter in the Autocar of 31st December describing a chain of low voltage lights, which were an improvement on what we talked about previously, which would achieve a desirable form of fog lighting in getting the driver’s eyes away from over-concentration upon a close object—probably another car’s rear light or the shadow of his own headlights in the fog—and keeping them searching out into the fog at a distance which would give him a reasonable chance of avoiding trouble.

    We are highly critical of the 70 m.p.h. speed limit on the motorways. We believe that it will be proved that other roads should be treated on their merits. That is what I was not allowed to say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but now, thanks to you, I have said it. Thirdly, we suggest that the advisory 30 m.p.h. limit should be interpreted as laid down in the Order and not in the advertisement, because the advertisement says nothing about the driver’s judgment in the matter.

    We all know that the point has been made that the Minister is not a motorist, and I would not dream of making a point of that, except this. I ask her to be sure that when she makes up her mind, she is advised by those who are best able to give her expert, sane, unprejudiced advice—thousands of sensible people, of whom I am only the spokesman.

  • Grant Shapps – 2022 Comments on Bus Projects

    Grant Shapps – 2022 Comments on Bus Projects

    The comments made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 4 April 2022.

    Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country – but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal.

    The investment we’re making today to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.

  • Wendy Morton – 2022 Comments on Dawlish Coastal Rail Route

    Wendy Morton – 2022 Comments on Dawlish Coastal Rail Route

    The comments made by Wendy Morton, the Rail Minister, on 1 April 2022.

    Devon’s iconic sea wall and the picturesque towns surrounding it are jewels in the British crown, and we’re committed to protecting this vital line and the communities it serves.

    Through our wider £155 million investment, we’re also working to boost connectivity and support the thriving local economy and tourism.

  • Trudy Harrison – 2022 Speech on the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

    Trudy Harrison – 2022 Speech on the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

    The speech made by Trudy Harrison, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 30 March 2022.

    It gives me great pleasure to respond to the debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Herefordshire (Sir Bill Wiggin) for initiating it, and I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie) for their interventions, because this is a really important issue. For decades, we have talked about moving away from fossil fuels. As we move towards green technologies and set ambitious targets to end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030, we know we need an infrastructure to match it.

    I would like to begin by adding to my hon. Friend’s already impressive set of statistics—he has clearly done his homework—covering the entirety of Herefordshire. There are indeed 68 public devices, 15 of which are rapid—that is over 50 kW—and there are 848 grant-funded domestic services in Herefordshire, plus a further 77 workplace charge points. What we do not have from Herefordshire Council, I am afraid, are any applications to the on-street charging fund. I therefore encourage my hon. Friend to work with me in trying to encourage the council.

    On the quality and reliability of charge points, my hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. We have already identified a number of improvements that must be mandated if we are to secure the transition we want away from fossil fuel vehicles to a far more electrified transport network. On reliability, we are ensuring that public charge points will be reliable by mandating a 99% reliability charging requirement across the rapid network, which will include trunk roads and motorway service areas, of which there are 114. That means that the rapid charging network must be maintained to a high standard. Where operators fall short of that standard, we will work with our enforcement body—to be set up— to ensure consumers get the very best experience. We are also going to publish a league table of all charge point operators in the UK and we are mandating a 24/7 helpline that must be free for consumers to use at every charge point in the UK. The helplines must be available within one year after the legislation comes into effect. We hope to bring forward that legislation later this year.

    My hon. Friend referred to the apps that need to be downloaded. We in my Department agree that that is unacceptable, so we are mandating that a non-proprietary, non-phone payment method, such as contactless, should be available for all newly installed fast and rapid charge points and existing rapid charge points over 7.1 kW. That will come into effect one year after the legislation is laid.

    We want to make sure that operators open up their charge points to a roaming provider. We simply do not care whether that is a charge point operator, a third-party roaming provider or a Government-accredited roaming provider, but we want it done quickly. Industry is already making tremendous progress. We will set the enforcement date as 31 December 2023 to ensure that any industry actors that are reluctant to offer roaming are forced to offer it to their consumers.

    My hon. Friend spoke about how motorists will find the right charge point for their needs. That is critical. We will also mandate open data to enable consumers to find a reliable, working and available charge point. We will mandate a data standard, the open charge point interface protocol, to standardise industry data and to specify how the data will be made openly available. We will allow a one-year lead time for those regulations to come into effect to allow for the development of an industry data solution.

    And we will go further by mandating pricing transparency through a single pricing metric—pence per kilowatt-hour—that must be offered to consumers at each public charge point. That will exclude payment bundles, where pricing can be offered alongside another service. The total bundle cost, however, must provide the consumer with the equivalent cost in pence per kilowatt-hour to charge their EV. That will come into effect immediately after the regulations come into force.

    I hope that I have set out how seriously we are taking this issue. We have listened to the feedback from motorists and consumers, and our ambition is matched only by our incentivisation. We will provide support to local authorities, organisations and householders through a range of funding streams that are available for homes, streets, workplaces, local authorities, motorway service areas, individuals, organisations companies and motorway service area operators. That support is available right across the UK.

    The hon. Member for Strangford referred to the pitiful amount of charge points, and I encourage him to work with his local authority, because those schemes are UK-wide, whether we are talking about the plug-in grant for cars, vans, motorcycles or taxis, the electric vehicle homecharge scheme, the workplace charging scheme, the on-street residential charge point scheme, any of the infrastructure support or our hydrogen transport programme. I repeat that our ambition is matched only by our financial incentivisation.

    Adam Afriyie

    The Minister is making it clear that the Government are utterly committed to getting this right and we very much appreciate that. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, where I am, has taken advantage of some of the Government schemes. We have some pretty good fast charging points, and really good preference is given to local residents who use them. Some of the schemes are working, but it is important that we look at home charging unit subsidies, as my hon. Friend the Member for North Herefordshire (Sir Bill Wiggin) said, because they are definitely just being skimmed off by a lot of the suppliers.

    Trudy Harrison

    I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and I am certainly happy to meet him. We have discussed at length some of the benefits that he experienced for his electric vehicle. There is nothing like speaking to the motorists, who explain some of the challenges and how we will improve on the charging infrastructure to ensure that it is world-leading and fit for the Government’s ambitions as we decarbonise transport.

    It is important to recognise the crucial role of local authorities in developing local EV charging strategies and facilitating local provision, especially for residents who do not have access to off-street charging. We are pledging at least £500 million to support local charge point provision. As part of that, the local EV infrastructure fund will provide approximately £400 million of capital and £50 million of resource funding to support local authorities.

    We are developing a toolkit and assessing how local authorities can best be supported with extra resources. We have launched a £10 million pilot as a springboard for the development of the full fund. We are working with the Energy Saving Trust to run the local government support programme, which provides free impartial advice to local authorities in England to help them to develop local policies and strategies to support zero-emission vehicle uptake.

    Our electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, which was launched just last Friday, sets out our direction of travel. It has put flesh on the bones of the transport decarbonisation plan and our net zero strategy. We need to go further—and we are doing just that. Last year, we launched a consultation on improving the consumer experience at public charge points; I have set out the results of that consultation, which I think demonstrate that we have listened and are taking action.

    We cannot take our foot off the clean, sustainable gas as we roll our plans out across the country. We have a responsibility to protect our future and make it cleaner and greener as fast as possible. In the light of the situation in Ukraine, switching to our own clean, cheap energy is no longer just about hitting net zero targets; it is a matter of national security. We will shortly publish a new energy security strategy to accelerate clean power in the UK from offshore wind and solar to hydrogen, nuclear and more.

    The Government have set out a clear plan to support the transition to electric vehicles. We have set out our role with partners, and are committing funding and continuing to work with industry to make sure that we have a world-leading charging network up and down the country. This transition is a team effort. I welcome challenge from Members across the House, because no body or sector can do this alone. It is only together that we can meet our ambitious targets to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2022 Speech on the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

    Bill Wiggin – 2022 Speech on the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

    The speech made by Bill Wiggin, the Conservative MP for North Herefordshire, in the House of Commons on 30 March 2022.

    I must declare my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and, more importantly, the fact that I am an electric car driver. I am delighted with the performance of the Hyundai Kona, although it is due for a battery recall, which I hope will happen very soon. I have driven it for a while, and it is fast—very fast—and a joy to drive. It is no wonder that at the end of November 2021 there were more than 365,000 fully electric cars on UK roads. More than 20,000 electric vehicles were registered in that month last year, and it is expected that over 6 million families will have purchased an electric vehicle by 2030. In addition, National Grid is preparing for the need to power 36 million cars by 2040.

    There are some giant challenges facing this area. For example, the amount of electricity needed to travel will increase massively as the number of electric cars grows by some 30% as we swap our energy source from petrol to electricity. We are nowhere near ready for such a step change in demand for electricity yet.

    Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)

    In Northern Ireland, the rise in electric car ownership has been dramatic, but what has not risen is the number of charging points. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if we are going to have take-up of electric cars, the number of charging points will have to match that? Does he also agree that they need to be not only in shopping centres but in town centres?

    Sir Bill Wiggin

    They also need to have sufficient speed of charge. For me, the 50 kW ones are the meaningful ones. I will come on to this later in my speech. When we look online, it is difficult to identify the ones that will get us home, as opposed to the ones that are in people’s drives for their overnight charging.

    Coupled with a decrease in VAT on fuel tax as we embrace the opportunities that electric vehicles present, we need to build parking and charging spaces and opportunities into our new housing stock, for no less a reason than that the national car pool could, with smart chargers, be a part of a national battery network. Over a quarter of the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector. It is therefore clear that getting the public into electric cars is a key part of the Government’s ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050. However, we all want the public to be persuaded to abandon their fossil fuel-powered cars, rather than be forced to do so. To help to achieve this, we need to ensure that owning an electric vehicle is as convenient as owning a traditionally powered vehicle.

    The main way of fulfilling this ambition must be a focus on range anxiety, and part of the solution to this serious concern is the ability to recharge electric cars easily and quickly. This is what the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) was talking about. The Government should therefore regard the prevalence and proper function of EV chargers to be just as important as petrol stations are for fossil fuel vehicles.

    The Government have already invested heavily in developing a network of fast chargers across the UK: £950 million has been committed to ensure that a motorist is never more than 30 miles away from a rapid charging site. Largely due to this support, more than 500 new fast charging points are being installed in the UK every month. However, those fast charging points suffer from a multitude of issues that prevent consumers from buying into the technology, not least being that “fast chargers” can range from 7.5 kW to 22 kW. These are not fast, and that is one of the massive key failings in the Government support.

    Other issues include reliability, ease of use, and the impossibility of tracking down chargers when the need arises. Just the other day, I found to my horror that every fast charger at Membury services on the M4 westbound was broken or would not fit my vehicle. One looked like it had been hit by a car. The next looked like it worked until I downloaded the app, plugged it in and took a photograph of the code, only to be told that it was out of order. The last one was unwilling to accept a payment card, and the instruction screen was so scratched that it was almost impossible to read. Next to them was an immaculate Tesla charging area, with eight unoccupied chargers, which had no screens and so were unavailable to us mere mortals.

    The inability to find a fast charger is especially distressing for the electric vehicle owner—it is worse late at night in the freezing cold, although in my case, thankfully, it was not raining—because running out of charge in an electric vehicle is not an option. First, there is no comparable technology to the jerry can, which can be used with fossil-fuelled vehicles. To make matters worse, most electric cars should not be towed, as they lack a true neutral gear, which means that once the vehicle has run out of charge, it is stranded and has to be retrieved by a low-loader lorry. Happily, I was lucky enough to find an operational charging point in Swindon, although it was not listed on any website I could find. I just happened to see it.

    It is incidents like that one that rightly damage the public’s perception of the utility of electric vehicles and prevent their further adoption. It is clear that my experience is not unique. Channel 4’s “Dispatches” programme found that last year over 10% of car charging bays in the UK were out of order on a given day. Many charging points consist of only two bays, so a single broken bay plus one other customer in the next-door bay adds to the risk and misery of trying to find a working charging point. The charging process already takes a little longer than refuelling fossil-fuelled cars, and having someone in the queue ahead makes matters doubly worse.

    Infrastructure concerns are especially worrying in rural areas like my North Herefordshire constituency, which is home to just four fast charging locations. I am not even sure where they are, but I really would like to know.

    Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)

    I was delighted to give my hon. Friend a lift in an electric vehicle to his home last night. I am less anxious about charging because we have a home charger and we use the Tesla superchargers, but does my hon. Friend agree that the electric vehicle charging infrastructure should be regarded as part of our national security infrastructure? Should it not be included in the consideration of ways not only to reduce our carbon emissions, but to ensure that our nation’s transport is secure, even in a crisis?

    Sir Bill Wiggin

    My hon. Friend is not only extremely generous to have given me a lift in his very smart Tesla, but absolutely right in everything he says. This message to the public that we can move away from fossil fuels and enjoy electric vehicles—they are great—comes to nothing if the security of the sites is not adequate.

    Despite the vast subsidies—almost £1 billion—given to install EV charging points, sufficiently high standards have still not been set for their maintenance, which I think is what my hon. Friend was talking about. The Government would not accept a scenario where 10% of petrol stations were not in working order. During the fuel protests in 2001, the Government provided police escorts to fuel tankers to ensure security of supply, and just last September, the Army was called in to deliver fuel to petrol stations running low on petrol and diesel. So the public know that the Government take the refuelling of traditionally powered cars very seriously. As it stands, the same confidence cannot be had in their backing for electric vehicle charging. That lack of confidence is holding back the widespread adoption of EV technology. Range anxiety is not only real but justified.

    The Government’s own figures show that 75% of motorists are reluctant to purchase an electric vehicle as they are concerned about being able to charge it, and 67% of people stated that they thought it was not possible to charge an electric vehicle conveniently and quickly on long journeys. The problem is only exacerbated by the poor quality of information available to those wishing to charge their cars.

    Jim Shannon

    To back up what the hon. Gentleman is saying, in my constituency of Strangford, which has about 70,000 people, we have only two charging points.

    Sir Bill Wiggin

    To encourage people to adopt electric vehicles, we will need considerably more. However, equally important is the ability to find those two charging points, and at the moment not a single map—electronic or physical—can display every fast-charging station and whether it is in working order, the size of the charger available and a route to get to it. We should be able to do that. Zap-Map claims to have recorded 95% of public charging points in the UK, but there is accurate information on the condition of only 70% of them. Zap-Map also requires members of the public to report when a fast-charging station is broken, so the information is far too often outdated or incorrect. It is also hard to remove red herring chargers—the little ones below 50 kW —and EV owners do not necessarily have time to use a slow charger. It is so bad that when I visited Manchester for the party conference, there were parking bays allocated for electric vehicles, but they had no chargers, so they were completely useless, yet they shone out of the map invitingly. It is not right to expect electric vehicle owners to roll the dice. Charge point operators must be made to provide a better service in return for the large public subsidies that they receive.

    We look to the Government to set strong standards for the maintenance of charge points. That must be paired with penalties for companies that fail to meet them. Now, I am not calling for the return of the death penalty, but I could be persuaded to support its reintroduction for the failure to maintain an EV charging site. In addition, I call for more and better information to be made available to EV owners about where they can charge their cars, as well as all fast-charging locations to be made available on all common map applications and car sat-navs. Clear details on what types of chargers, how many bays are available and their operating condition must be readily available. That information should be shown on forecourt display signs in the same way that petrol and diesel prices are advertised.

    Providers who do not follow those common-sense regulations are holding back EV technology across the country and hindering progress towards our net zero emissions target. There is no better example of that than the £350 subsidy for home chargers. It is possible to buy one on eBay for £269, yet that will not be eligible for the subsidy, so the contractors simply add £350 on to their bills. Even when EV charge points do work, they are still somewhat inconvenient to use. Each charging point is operated by a particular company, and each company requires its own subscription and/or app to use it. Despite many previous discussions on this matter, it is hard to know whether the chargers with blue “I’m free” lights showing are actually available to someone who wants to pay with their credit card. EV drivers in the Netherlands can charge their cars on any operator’s network using a unified payment system. I see no reason why we have not already regulated for a similar system in Britain. There is no problem with charge point operators offering preferential rates to their subscribers, but they must also offer a simple contactless or mobile payment option to other motorists.

    It is clear that if we are to continue to offer such large subsidies to charge point operators, we must ensure that they are doing more for consumers. In return for public money, these companies owe the Government—and therefore the public—better maintenance, better ease of use and better information. The same is true for local authorities who are exploiting this situation to some extent, too. For example, Hammersmith and Fulham Council provides lots of chargers. When the charger works, the light is green and while charging it is blue. Finally, it turns red, signalling to any passing traffic warden that a fat fine is available. That is hardly encouraging, and as a result the bays are mostly empty.

    The Government should now use legislation to ensure that 50 kW charge points should be easy to find on all common map applications and car sat-navs. There is a proper need to identify fast chargers so people are able to get home, rather than the 7.5 kW chargers or the little ones, which may take many hours to charge a car. The quality and availability of that information needs to be clear so that we can find it from the car. Sitting in a warm office is really not an acceptable alternative, but that is how the Government’s report reads. Information listing types of adaptors, how many bays there are and if they are working should be easily available, both online and on petrol price-style display boards.

    We also need to enforce standards to ensure that EV charging points are consistently and properly maintained and we must take the power to impose penalties on companies that do not deliver. Taxpayer-funded charging points mean standards, and standards need to be delivered and enforced. Only then will we see consumer confidence grow, more EVs bought and our net zero goals met on time.

  • Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech on P&O Ferries

    Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech on P&O Ferries

    The speech made by Louise Haigh, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 30 March 2022.

    I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement, and for the briefing he gave me on these measures last week.

    I know the whole House agrees that the action taken by P&O Ferries was beneath contempt. A sense of fair play and decency runs deep in this country—it is part of who we are—so the sight of a rogue employer who has made a mockery of the rule of law, trashed the reputation of a great British brand and upended the lives of 800 families saying that he would do it all again offends people deeply. The test, therefore, for this Government in the eyes of the country is simple: do not let them get away with it—because for too long, they have. The warning sirens have been sounding for years. P&O Ferries has been exploiting workers in plain sight. In this House, the Government were told repeatedly of seafarers on destitution wages, some earning just £1.74 an hour. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) warned:

    “If the Government fail to act, how long will it be before we see the same thing happen…on other critical shipping lanes?”

    The gate was left wide open, and P&O Ferries has sailed straight through it.

    The steps announced by the Government, insisting on the bare minimum, cannot come a moment too soon. This is a move we warmly welcome, and which has our wholehearted support. However, can the Secretary of State confirm that under the harbour legislation he mentioned, the national minimum wage will apply on the entirety of all UK international routes, and not just in British waters, as P&O seemed to suggest yesterday? I very much welcome his action to instruct the Insolvency Service to consider the CEO’s disqualification. When will the Insolvency Service respond, so that the Business Secretary can seek an order for his disqualification in the courts?

    Yesterday’s letter from P&O showed in black and white that regardless of the proposed legislation, it still intends to carry out its outrageous plan to sack 800 workers, to trample over the laws of this country, and to take an axe to the pay and conditions of these workers’ replacements and force through a 60% pay cut. This is, as the joint Select Committee was told last week, fire and rehire on steroids—and P&O Ferries must not get away with it. That is why the Government’s reluctance to use every tool at their disposal to force it to change course is bewildering. No prosecution has been brought, despite the Prime Minister’s announcement last week, and the deadline to act to protect these workers is tomorrow. The Chancellor confirmed yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) that the review of the relationship with DP World has already concluded—and it will keep every single taxpayer-funded contract.

    Even with these very welcome steps announced today, the Government still risk giving the green light to P&O and other exploitative employers. Will the Secretary of State now guarantee that he will prosecute, disqualify the directors, and suspend their lucrative contracts? If P&O continues to proceed with this unlawful action, and to risk safety, is it not time to suspend its licence to operate? Will he introduce powers to allow the Government to step in and stop any such illegal behaviour in future and force employers back to the negotiating table? Will he amend the Trade Union Act 2016 so that employees can seek unlimited punitive damages against such unlawful action in future?

    P&O Ferries has written the blueprint for bad business the world over. It must know that there will be consequences, because this scandal extends well beyond P&O. It is the consequence of a decade in which an axe has been taken to workers’ rights. The balance has tipped far away from working people. Fire and rehire has become commonplace, and millions of people are thinking, “Will I be next?”

    The measures announced yesterday by the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), show, I am afraid, that the Government still do not get it. The measures may mean extra compensation, but only after people have gone through a tribunal process that is beset with delays and backlogs—and this is a price that bad bosses have already shown they are prepared to pay. If Ministers mean what they say—if this is going to be a line in the sand—they will bring forward an emergency employment Bill straight after recess. No more half measures, no more excuses—they must ban fire and rehire for good. They will also guarantee that not a penny of public money will be handed out to companies that disregard workers’ rights, and will work with the RMT and Nautilus International to pursue a binding agreement on pay and conditions to end the race to the bottom that P&O is determined to lead.

    We will work constructively with the Government on the measures announced today, but 13 days on from this scandalous act, key shipping routes are still suspended, 800 workers are still without their jobs, those responsible have no regrets, and time is almost out. The stakes could not be higher. To reverse this scandalous act, the actions of Ministers must now match their words.

  • Grant Shapps – 2022 Statement on P&O Ferries

    Grant Shapps – 2022 Statement on P&O Ferries

    The statement made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 30 March 2022.

    Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on P&O Ferries.

    Last week, I stood at this Dispatch Box to address the House on the shameful sacking of 800 seafarers by P&O Ferries. No British worker should be treated in this way, devoid of dignity and respect. Our maritime workers, who supported this country during the pandemic with great dedication and sacrifice, deserved far better than to be dismissed via a pre-recorded Zoom in favour of cheaper overseas labour.

    In response, we urged P&O Ferries to reconsider. Those calls have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite—in front of Parliament, no less—set out how he deliberately broke the law and, in an act of breathtaking indifference, suggested he would do the same thing again.

    The failure of P&O Ferries to see reason, to recognise the public anger and to do the right thing by its staff has left the Government with no choice. Today, I am announcing a package of nine measures that will force it to fundamentally rethink its decision and send a clear message to the maritime industry that we will not allow this to happen again: that where new laws are needed, we will create them, that where legal loopholes are cynically exploited, we will close them, and that where employment rights are too weak, we will strengthen them.

    I start with the enforcement action we are taking. Far too many irregularities exist between those who work at sea and those who work on land. Even where workers have rights, they are not always enforced. The first measure I can announce is that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will be dedicating significant resource to checking that all UK ferry operators are compliant with the national minimum wage—no ifs, no buts.

    Secondly, I have asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to review its enforcement policies, checking they are fit for purpose, both now and into the future. The House will recall that the MCA is already, at my request, carrying out inspections of P&O’s ferries. So far two ships, the European Causeway and the Pride of Kent, have been detained after failing safety inspections. I will not compromise the safety of any vessel, and P&O will not be able to rush new crews through training and expect those ships to sail. That work is ongoing.

    Thirdly, we will take action to prevent employers who have not made reasonable efforts to reach agreement through consultation, from using fire and rehire tactics. A new statutory code will allow a court or employment tribunal to take the manner of dismissal into account and, if an employer fails to comply with the code, to impose a 25% uplift to a worker’s compensation.

    Fourthly, I have made no secret of my view that P&O Ferries’ boss Peter Hebblethwaite should resign. He set out to break the law and boasted about it to Parliament. I have written to the chief executive officer of the Insolvency Service, conveying my firm belief that Peter Hebblethwaite is unfit to lead a British company, and have asked it to consider his disqualification. The Insolvency Service has the legal powers to pursue complaints where a company has engaged in “sharp practice”. Surely the whole House agrees that nothing could be sharper than dismissing 800 staff and deliberately breaking the law while doing so. It is, of course, for the Insolvency Service to decide what happens next, but in taking this step I want to ensure that such outrageous behaviour is challenged.

    It is a hard truth that those working at sea do not enjoy the same benefits as those working on land, which brings me to the fifth element of the package today: a renewed focus on the training and welfare elements of our flagship maritime strategy. We are already investing £30 million through the maritime training fund to grow our seafarer population, but I will go further, pursuing worldwide agreements at the International Labour Organisation. We will push for a common set of principles to support maritime workers, including an international minimum wage, a global framework for maritime training, and skills and tools to support seafarer mental health.

    Sixthly, we know that P&O Ferries exploited a loophole, flagging its vessels in Cyprus to escape UK laws. We will take action on that too. From next week, our reforms to tonnage tax will come into effect, meaning that maritime businesses set up in the UK will have unnecessary red tape removed, as well as any provisions from the EU that are no longer required. By doing so, we will increasing the attractiveness of UK flagging and bring more ships under our control, thereby protecting the welfare of seafarers.

    Much of the maritime sector is governed by international laws, obligations and treaties. That means that we cannot hope to solve all these problems alone. The seventh plank of our package today is therefore to engage with our international partners. This week, I have contacted my counterparts in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany to discuss the idea that maritime workers on direct routes between our countries should receive a minimum wage. I am delighted to say that the response, particularly from the French Minister for Transport, has already been positive. I will now work quickly with my counterparts to explore the creation of minimum wage corridors between our nations, and we will also ask unions and operators to agree common levels of seafarer protection on those routes.

    I have set out how we will step up enforcement, how we will support the workforce in the long term, how we will get more vessels under the British flag, and how we are working with international partners to create minimum wage corridors, but I know the House is expecting legislative changes, too. Although we had originally intended to come to the Chamber today to announce changes to the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, after seeking expert maritime legal advice it has become clear that that will not be possible. The issue is that maritime law is governed by international conventions that would too easily override changes to domestic laws. However, I will not let that stop us. Seafarers deserve the same wage certainty as onshore workers. They deserve to be safe in the knowledge that they will not be undercut at a moment’s notice by cheaper overseas labour. Today, we are providing that certainty.

    I can announce to the House our eighth measure: our intention to give British ports new statutory powers to refuse access to regular ferry services that do not pay their crew the national minimum wage. We will achieve that through primary legislation to amend the Harbours Act 1964. It will mean that if companies such as P&O Ferries want to dock in ports such as Dover, Hull or Liverpool, they will have no choice but to comply. Crucially, that also means that P&O Ferries can derive no benefit from the action it has disgracefully taken. It has fired its workers to replace them with those who are paid below minimum wage but, as a result of this measure, that cynical attempt will fail. My message to P&O Ferries is this: “The game is up. Rehire those who want to return, and pay your workers—all your workers—a decent wage.”

    The Government want to bring that legislation forward as quickly as possible, but it is important to get it right. We are legally bound to consult the sector on any changes and, unlike P&O, we take that consultation seriously. Legislative changes will not be possible overnight. To that end, I can announce the ninth and final measure we will be taking. Today I will write to all ports in the UK, explaining our intention to bring forward legislation as quickly as possible, but in the meantime instructing them not to wait. I want to see British ports refusing access to ferry companies that do not pay a fair wage as soon as is practical. They will have the full backing of the Government. I have also instructed the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to get behind that action, and it has indicated that it will do so.

    This issue has united the whole House, and indeed the whole country, in anger at those responsible and in sympathy for those affected. We are a proudly pro-business Government, but we will never support those who treat workers with such callousness and disrespect as we have seen here. British workers are not expendable; they are the backbone of this country.

    The robust package of measures announced today will give our maritime workers the rights they deserve, while destroying the supposed gains P&O Ferries hoped to obtain. It will send a clear message that those using British waters and British ports to ply their trade must accept British laws. I commend this statement to the House.

  • Trudy Harrison – 2022 Speech on the A5 in the Midlands

    Trudy Harrison – 2022 Speech on the A5 in the Midlands

    The speech made by Trudy Harrison, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in Westminster Hall on 23 March 2022.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) is a passionate advocate for his constituency. I congratulate him on securing this important debate, on working with local leaders and colleagues in the House and on articulating so clearly the need to increase capacity and to make other improvements on the A5 in the midlands.

    I do not think there has ever before been such a comprehensive discussion of the need to improve roads. We have discussed the issue economically, environmentally, socially and culturally—even a song has been written about this road. I am sure we all appreciated the rendition from the shadow spokesperson, the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane). My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby set out why improvements to the A5 are so important to his constituents and to the wider area. It is good that Members are working together.

    As we know, the A5 is an ancient road of 252 miles, yet just 15% of it is dualled. We heard the rationale for improving that percentage. Significant housing development proposed in north Warwickshire, Hinckley, Tamworth, Bosworth and Nuneaton and Bedworth, including sites in the immediate vicinity of the A5, add to the reasons why the road needs to be improved. The average daily traffic figure on the A5—21,338—-is considerable.

    The A5 is part of a strategic east-west corridor running from London to Holyhead in Anglesey. As we have heard this afternoon, it links towns across the midlands, including Milton Keynes, Rugby, Lutterworth, Hinckley, Nuneaton and Tamworth. Indeed, my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) spoke to me at length yesterday about the need to improve the road, and he specifically mentioned the areas that most concern him: the Dodwells island connecting to the A47, the Longshoot junction and the Woodford Lane junction. He talked to me about the closures on the M6 and their impact on the A5. As we have heard today, rat runs are created in local communities when there are problems on the A5.

    The A5 is a core artery bisecting the golden triangle of logistics distribution centres, supermarkets and high street stores in the midlands. Spanning from Northamptonshire, up the M1 to East Midlands airport and as far west as the Tamworth area, the golden triangle is bustling with big logistics names. As well as being in proximity to the huge distribution centres of supermarkets and high street stores—with Daventry in the south, Leicester in the north-east and Birmingham in the west—the corridor remains a key artery for communities in the midlands and for jobs in major employment sites such as Magna Park and the MIRA enterprise zone, which I had the pleasure of visiting thanks to the invitation from my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Dr Evans). I saw for myself the innovation happening there. As we decarbonise the transport system and think about the future of self-driving vehicles, automation and connected vehicles, the site will become even more essential to the transition. As he articulated so well, the work being done by the midlands engine is critical to the economic, social and environmental prospects of this country.

    The Government recognise the role that the A5 plays. It is a key piece of infrastructure that supports and provides resilience to nearby locations, which is why we are spending £24 billion on our motorways and trunk A roads in England in the five years between 2020 and 2025, as part of the second road investment strategy. RIS2 builds on the £17.6 billon in the first RIS, covering 2015 to 2020—a then record. Of that £24 billion, £12 billion is being spent on the operation, maintenance and renewal of existing networks, including beginning multi-road period programmes of structural renewals and concrete road surface replacement.

    More than £10 billion is being spent on improving the performance of the network, supporting the Government’s levelling-up agenda and underpinning national and regional growth. The core principle of our strategy is to create a road network that is safe, accessible and reliable for all users, and that meets the needs of those living alongside the network. Although investment has an important role in achieving that, the road investment strategy also includes challenging performance targets that must be met. I recognise the frustration of my hon. Friends, the business community and residents that the A5 Dodwells to Longshoot widening scheme commitment in RIS1 was not started in road period 1 and was instead incorporated into proposals in RIS2 for a more extensive improvement to the corridor.

    My hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth raised the challenge of Britain’s most bashed bridge. National Highways is in discussions with the developer about the possibility of lowering the carriageway in the vicinity of the low bridge. The discussions are ongoing, and I know he needs no encouragement from me to do what he does best, along with colleagues in the A5 area: to continue engaging with National Highways on this important matter.

    In championing the need for improvements, the work of the A5 partnership has been exemplary, and I reassure hon. Members that this work will continue to be fully considered by officials within the Department and National Highways as part of the canon of evidence for developing our third road investment strategy, RIS3, which will cover 2025 to 2030. It includes informing decision making on the proposed A5 Hinckley to Tamworth scheme—one of 33 schemes in the pipeline that are currently being developed for possible delivery in RIS3. The likely cost of the scheme is substantial, in excess of £1 billion in all likelihood. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, with such large sums involved, investment decisions need to be taken in the round to ensure we maximise value for taxpayers.

    My hon. Friends have set out the importance of this road improvement for the economic viability and social happiness of the area. Individual pipeline schemes will be considered alongside future operations, maintenance and renewal priorities and how we respond to environmental pressures and opportunities, planning for a future of connected autonomous vehicles as well as small-scale improvements. In practice, those decisions will not be made until the final road investment strategy is set in 2024.

    Mark Pawsey

    One of our key asks is that this 53-mile section of road is looked at as a whole, rather than in individual pieces. There is a marvellous precedent in the midlands with the work being done on the A46—plans are coming forward for the final roundabout in my constituency—which will provide a continuous road from the M5 in the south-west at Evesham all the way through to the M69 and then the M1 at Leicester, providing a south-west to north-east link. That road has been looked at as a whole and will be a complete, uninterrupted road. Can we have the same for the A5?

    Trudy Harrison

    I am sure my colleague in the other place, Baroness Vere the roads Minister, will be listening to this debate. I reiterate how effectively my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby is championing this cause, and he is being taken seriously. Also, this is not all we are doing for the A5. As I am sure hon. Members are aware, National Highways has committed to delivering another scheme for the A5. The Dordon to Atherstone scheme is set to deliver improvements that will unlock the potential for 4,000 homes. National Highways will deliver that scheme, and the design of the improvements can be tied into the wider options being considered for the route. National Highways will also be completing safety improvements to the A5 Northampton Road this month.

    I appreciate hon. Members’ concerns about the current operation of the A5 and its impacts on proposed growth in the region. My hon. Friends and I agree that efficient, reliable transport is a catalyst for enterprise and enables growth. Better connectivity means greater economic opportunity and all the benefits it delivers for communities.

    I know that my hon. Friend for Rugby and other hon. Friends who advocate for improvements on the A5 are passionate about investment in the midlands for their constituents, and I recognise it is in everyone’s interest to mitigate the barriers to growth. That is why the Department is working closely with National Highways to fully understand congestion issues along the length of the A5 and how its key congestion pinch points can potentially be mitigated, including the A43-A5 Tove roundabout, the A5-A426 Gibbet Hill roundabout and junction 1 of the M69. I assure hon. Members that National Highways will continue to work closely with the local highway authorities and stakeholders to understand and deliver improvements where they are needed, so that the region’s potential can be truly realised.

    As we look to the future of the network, National Highways has just finished the formal evidence-gathering phase of the third round of route strategies, which will inform its assessment of the current performance of the network and its needs. Those strategies provide an important input, alongside strategic studies and other evidence-gathering mechanisms, in informing decisions about further investment on the strategic road network beyond 2025. The route strategies review performance, pressures and opportunities on every part of the network, and provide a significant opportunity to consider the needs of the A5 corridor and, in particular, reinforce the case for improving the Hinckley to Tamworth section. The input of Midlands Connect and the A5 Partnership was an important contribution to that process and, as we have heard, the input from my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and his colleagues was an important contribution to the series of roundtable meetings that the roads Minister, Baroness Vere, hosted in the autumn.

    I thank my hon. Friend once again for the work he does with Midlands Connect and the A5 Partnership to ensure the overwhelming support for improvements is well represented within Government. I welcome the integrated approach with local community leaders, sub-national transport bodies and transport authorities to demonstrate a united front on the need for investment, which is essential for building the case for improvements along this stretch of the strategic road network. The formal window for feedback through the route strategies feedback tool came to a close at the end of December 2021. It is vital for National Highways to understand and prioritise the issues that matter most for users of the road network. I encourage my hon. Friend to continue making the case for investment in the strategic roads that matter most, and the important engagement that is already under way with National Highways across all these issues is making a tremendous difference.

    I conclude by thanking my hon. Friends the Members for Rugby and for Bosworth for this debate. In preparation, I learned much about the 252 miles of the A5 and I hope they are satisfied with my response to their concerns. We recognise the vital importance of the A5 in supporting all aspects of the regional and national economy, and the concerns and views that have been expressed will be dealt with as matters of the utmost importance when considering how to improve the A5 now and in the future.