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Light Rail

: I congratulate the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) on securing this important debate. It is not possible to deal with all the points that have been raised in the short time available, so I will try to deal with as many as possible in my speech. I ask hon. Members to be patient. From what one or two Members have said, one would think that we had done nothing for transport, but we have seen record investment in public transport after years of neglect, major regeneration of our main cities, and major success stories in transport generally. I shall use the short time available to deal with the issues before us, and I welcome the opportunity to debate this matter and set out the Government's position. As we all know, and as hon. Members have said, we have had a difficult time in the past few weeks in terms of taking decisions. I want to make it clear that light rail has a future in Britain in the right places and as part of the right overall package, but that we will not support schemes at any cost. The success of light rail has been partly due to the Government's contribution of about £700 million to light rail schemes since 1997. Six such schemes have opened across the country. Light rail journeys have increased by 130 per cent. in the past 10 years. In 2005, journeys increased by 8.4 per cent. compared with the previous year—more than on national rail and London Underground. In all, 155 million journeys were made on light rail systems in England last year. Light rail is a small contributor, given the increasing use in public transport, but its share is increasing. Obviously, lessons can be learned from past experiences. Too many light rail schemes have seen their costs increase substantially after we have approved them. With the Manchester Metrolink phase 3 extensions, the public sector funding requirement almost tripled between our first approval in 2000 and the end of 2004. For the scheme in south Hampshire there was a 50 per cent. increase, and for the Leeds supertram and Merseytram, the public sector cost increased by 40 per cent. We need to have full confidence in a scheme's cost, viability and cost-effectiveness before giving it the go-ahead, and we must be satisfied that the procurement approach proposed is appropriate and offers the best value for money. If light rail is to be successful, it needs to be part of an integrated approach. As my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) and others have said, last year light rail came under the scrutiny of the National Audit Office. Recent reports by the Select Committee on Public Accounts and the Select Committee on Transport have made several valid suggestions about how the Government's role in light rail might be strengthened. Under the new approach, we will be more rigorous, and will not give final approval until final prices have been received through a competitive procurement process. That will mean that schemes' promoters will need to develop more robust proposals, and provide evidence of their certainty regarding the risks and estimated costs and of the fact that the scheme is deliverable on time and on budget. They will also have to demonstrate that it is a high priority for the region. The Department has been considering how success can be built upon and best practice shared. It has been working closely with promoters through a programme of work streams and with the passenger transport executive light rail group. We are working to ensure that better specific guidance about developing a light rail scheme is available to promoters and local authorities, and have recognised the importance of working with industry. We are also working closely with UKTram, which has set up working groups to take forward streams of work, which include the development of technical, operational and safety management standards and best practice guidelines. We will continue to support UKTram in that work. We also want to improve project delivery. We will make sure that, where necessary, major transport schemes go through the formal gateway process run by the Office of Government Commerce, to ensure that projects at critical stages are in a fit state to move forward. I reiterate the fact that light rail does have a future in the UK. In areas of heavy traffic it might be the best solution to transport problems, as it can be the most effective way of getting people out of their cars.