Transport (Wales) Bill

My Lords, this is a comparatively simple and straightforward Bill, as indeed it should it be after its prolonged pre-legislative scrutiny towards the end of the last Parliament and all the consideration its main elements received prior to that. As the Minister reminded us, the Assembly published its Transport Framework for Wales as far back as November 2001. Since then, there have been a number of separate studies devoted to rural transport, the provision of rail services and the future of air transport in Wales. When one considers the volume of preparatory work and literature, it is almost surprising that all we have at the end of the day is a 17-clause Bill laying a duty on the Assembly to develop and implement transport policies and prepare a strategy for implementation through local authorities and other subsidiary bodies. Indeed, the Government themselves admit in the Bill summary that it,"““is not intended to break new ground, but rather to ensure that the Assembly has comprehensive powers in the transport field enabling it to provide an integrated transport system for Wales””." I do not wish to be cynical, but it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that there has been a great deal of talk and very little delivery on better services so far and that the Assembly Government are not much nearer now to effecting significant transport improvements in Wales than they were when all this began five and more years ago. I had responsibility for transport in Wales in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1994, we announced a proposal for a southerly bypass of Newport off the M4. I am astonished that so little progress has been made with that proposal over the past 10 years. I gather that progress with the upgrading of the A465—the heads of the valleys road—also leaves much to be desired. While I am on the subject of roads, which does not feature prominently in the Bill, I hope the Assembly remembers that it was the extensive road-building programme pursued in Wales by the Conservative government that brought new factories and prosperity to Wales along the M4 in the south and the A55 in the north. Good road communications and their maintenance are absolutely essential to a thriving economy, which is the main financial prop of our public services and so much else. The mainspring of the Bill, and all the discussion that has preceded it, is the need for an integrated transport policy and the system that goes with it. Such a policy has been a popular battle cry with transport boffins for as long as I can remember. The trouble is that the ideas which stem from such a policy are often fanciful and do not match the needs and priorities perceived by the public or, indeed, dictated by the realities on the ground. People will not readily abandon their cars for trains or buses simply because transport planners think they should. I sound a cautionary note simply because it is so easy to get the strategy wrong if it is dictated by theoretical rather than practical needs and considerations. In spite of the availability of subsidy, there must be a realistic demand for a service, otherwise public money runs to waste. We are all familiar with the sight of empty buses, trains and aircraft too, fuelled at the taxpayer’s expense. I hope that the public transport users’ committee, to be established under Clause 9, will help to ensure that realism, rather than wishful thinking, prevails in the Assembly’s strategic planning. As the Minister reminded us, there was a substantial amount about rail services in the original Bill. However, the clauses establishing rail passenger committees and the power of the Assembly to give directions to the Strategic Rail Authority have all disappeared. We are left wondering just how Network Rail and the various rail services are going to contribute to the integrated transport strategy and its implementation. That rail is an all-important ingredient in such a strategy goes without saying. The paucity of references to rail in the Bill worries many, including the Very Reverend Archimandrite Father Deiniol, who has made representations to a number of your Lordships on behalf of his group ““Un Ein Blaenau””, which means ““moving ahead””. The title has a special poignancy because the organisation is based at Blaenau Ffestiniog. There is renewed interest in providing an internal air service in Wales linking north and south. The Assembly will have power under Clause 11 of the Bill to establish and financially support such a service. There have been numerous attempts to do this in the past and all have failed for lack of customers and patronage. In my ministerial days, there was a daily service between Cardiff airport and Hawarden, subsidised by Clwyd County Council. I often found myself the only passenger on the flight. The latest proposal involves Swansea, Cardiff and RAF Valley, Anglesey, and the venture is being supported by the Assembly. Of course I wish it every success. There is probably more human traffic between north and south these days than in the past, especially by officials of the Assembly and local government. But the incentive to make that 200 mile each-way journey to and from Cardiff by air in a day, rather than the two-day trek by road, with mileage and overnight allowances, has to be significant in terms of time, cost and convenience to attract sufficient private as well as public sector customers to sustain the service. A major proposal in the Bill is that the Assembly has power to require two or more local authorities to enter into arrangements for the joint discharge of their transport functions. This makes good sense and—dare I say it?—it is a power that should have been available since the time of local government reorganisation in 1993. There is also the power to form joint transport authorities to discharge specific functions. Some local authorities have already wisely combined to tackle their transport problems jointly, but the new JTAs will be separate corporate bodies, created by the Assembly, although largely composed of local authority members. The Welsh Local Government Association doubts the value of the proposed new authorities which may overlap the existing consortia in terms of area and function. There is a legitimate argument here which we must consider carefully in Committee, together with cross-border issues. Despite the longevity of the Bill’s gestation, there is now a feeling of urgency about the need for it and the power it confers. There is certainly a sense of urgency on the ground in Wales. The Institution of Civil Engineers recently produced an assessment of the transport infrastructure in Wales and gave a C grade—that is, average category—to all forms of transport, except airports and seaports which fared rather better with a B grade. We must ensure that our transport infrastructure is of the highest quality and is capable of meeting the needs of a versatile economy and of a society which is very dependent on its mobility. If the Bill can help in that direction, we shall be happy to support it.