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Local Transport

My hon. Friend the Minister of State heard my hon. Friend’s comments. I confirm again that the Government are not anti-tram but that the right solution has to be found within the resources available. There are occasions when the bus is a better, cheaper, more effective and economic alternative. I was interested that the hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson) talked about the Government playing ““fast and loose””. I have never known that said of a Government who have given conditional approval to a scheme to improve junction 11 of the M4 and make related improvements to Mereoak junction, which will allow Reading to invite tenders for construction. The Government expect to provide more than £62 million for the scheme, which will ease congestion on the main access from the M4 into Reading. If that is playing fast and loose, many hon. Members would welcome it. The scheme for Reading station was originally developed by the council with Network Rail. Following further review in the emerging conclusions of the Intercity Express project, a larger scheme than was originally envisaged is now required at Reading to create an interchange that is capable of handling the forecast growth in passenger numbers, including the possibility of new direct airport services. Key stakeholders, including my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, West (Martin Salter), support that view. The Thames valley regional planning assessment for the railway is in the final stages of development and is considering the required upgrade of Reading station. We hope that the required documentation will be published around Easter. On the Reading inner-distributor road, I, like my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford), was somewhat confused because it appeared as though the hon. Member for Reading, East wanted local decisions at all times unless they were not the decisions that he supported. To clarify, I am aware that this is a controversial scheme. However, it is proposed in order to address congestion, which we all know needs to be done, and I also emphasise that the Department for Transport is not being asked to contribute any funds. I am aware that Reading borough council is fully apprised of the requirements on it. I would like to say a few words of clarification about the transport innovation fund. That is extra money allotted for an additional purpose: that fund is not taking money from anyone and no one is forced to apply for it. It has a separate set of requirements and criteria. It is intended to deal with both congestion and productivity. It is important to clarify that, as a misleading or strange impression has been created that TIF is somehow taking money away, but it is not. We had some discussion of road pricing, on which I am interested to see that the Conservatives have many views. The hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) said:"““ Demand management is an option and we will look very seriously at road pricing.””" The hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) said that the Conservatives were"““sympathetic to the concept of road pricing””," and the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) said:"““Britain now needs a concerted programme of road building, accompanied by the introduction of advanced traffic management methods, including new solutions for road charging based on usage and the time of day””." It seems to me that there is quite a lot of support among those on the Conservative Benches for the transport innovation fund, which I am delighted to discover. The hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart) referred to Yorkshire not receiving enough money. Well, I must put further questions to the hon. Gentleman. From where would he seek to take the money and how on earth can he reconcile the call for more money for his own region with the various points put forward by his party about plans to share the proceeds of economic growth, which is a code for tax cuts? Indeed, in an article on ConservativeHome, which has since been removed, the hon. Member for Wimbledon called for £20 billion of cuts, and the Forsyth tax reform commission advocated £16 billion-worth of cuts. I understand that hon. Members always want more resources for their own area, but it is incumbent on us to show some responsibility and say where that money will come from. My hon. Friend the Member for Eltham made the point, as forcefully as always, about the need for a further station in Woolwich under the Crossrail development. I have noted that and I can confirm that the Secretary of State is looking further into the matter and has committed to reporting back to the Select Committee on Crossrail. This has been an interesting debate. I have not recognised all the reflections on the Government’s local transport policy, but I can say without any doubt that more funding and more effective planning is going into local transport today than was the case 10 years ago. The Select Committee supports the principle of local transport plans and I am grateful to it. I also welcome the constructive points that have been put forward. I can confirm that we are aiming and working towards further improvements in our support for local authorities so that they can achieve even better results in serving the people for whom they work. I hope that the House will support that.