HC Deb 15 November 1972 vol 846 cc412-4
17. Mr. Barnes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made in planning future transport policy of the likely world oil shortage within the next 10 years.

Mr. Peyton

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry indicated on 13th November, prospects for oil and for other sources of energy are kept under continuing review.

Mr. Barnes

Is it not unwise to have a transport policy which makes us all too dependent on cars and road haulage if the growing demand for oil plus restrictions on supplies applied by some of the oil exporting countries will put a question mark over the continuing availability of imported oil at prices which the country and consumers can afford?

Mr. Peyton

I assure the hon. Gentleman that the factors to which he refers are kept very much in mind.

Mr. Body

Does my right hon. Friend accept that this is becoming a Community problem? If he does, will he consult M. Spaak, director-general of Euratom, in view of his contention that our oil resources in the North Sea should be treated as a Community asset and there should be freedom of establishment under the Treaty of Rome?

Mr. Peyton

That is a question for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

Mr. David Stoddart

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that an oil crisis is building up, and will he in his Department give consideration to the better use and greater use of electric traction? Does he agree that perhaps the greatest mistake ever made in many of our towns was the removal of the trolleybus, and will he press ahead with research into electric traction with that in mind?

Mr. Peyton

As to the likelihood of an oil crisis, it is possible to exaggerate such matters, I must again say that this is a matter for my right hon. Friend. As regards the trolleybus, I am not at all sure that the day will not come when we re-invent the tram, and, if that happens, it will be a singularly bright feature in our march through the technological revolution.

Mr. J. H. Osborn

What progress is my right hon. Friend's Department making with rapid personal transit systems, such as cab-track, with small electric vehicles to overcome the difficulty?

Mr. Peyton

That arises on another Question, but I assure my hon. Friend that rapid transit systems are being carefully examined.

Mr. Mulley

Although the question regarding oil may not be his direct concern, will the right hon. Gentleman bear the point very much in mind in considering the future of British Railways and the need for support to keep the present system viable for both freight and passengers, as well as projects to bring back the tram, to which he rightly referred, or some equivalent form of efficient public transport?

Mr. Peyton

No one knows better than the right hon. Gentleman the massive support which we have given to British Railways.