HC Deb 16 April 1975 vol 890 cc426-8
13. Mr. Golding

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will initiate an inquiry into refreshment and rest facilities on motorways, with particular reference to the needs of lorry drivers.

Mr. Mulley

No, Sir. The facilities are kept under review, and lorry drivers' needs are discussed with their representative organisations.

Mr. Golding

Is the Minister aware that when even a sausage sandwich costs 25p lorry drivers cannot afford to eat adequately in motorway service cafés, and that their consequent fatigue is a danger to themselves and to other road users?

Mr. Mulley

I have great sympathy with what my hon. Friend says and, indeed, with the road haulage drivers. The difficulty is that my Department has no responsibility for the prices charged or for the management of those facilities, which are very costly to run. The cafés are often in the countryside which makes it difficult to get staff, and with any enterprise that is run on a 24-hour basis the problem of unsocial hours arises, with the consequent increase in costs. If my hon. Friend or any other hon. Member has any suggestions for improvements I shall be glad to consider them. At present I have no funds available to subsidise the services, and without subsidies I doubt whether substantial changes in price levels can be avoided.

Mrs. Colquhoun

If the British people vote to remain in Europe, will my right hon. Friend, as a compensation to motorway users, consider opening up the refreshment tenders to European countries, so that people like Jacque Borrel can tender and the British public can obtain decent food on their motorways?

Mr. Mulley

My hon. Friend is taking unfair advantage in trying to persuade me to take a pro-European line in the forthcoming referendum when I have made clear that as chairman of the party I wish to remain neutral. If we remain in Europe after the referendum—as, no doubt, my hon. Friend will do her best to secure—her suggestion will deserve the most careful consideration.

Mr. Adley

Is there not some merit in the hon. Lady's suggestion that more competition should be provided and that as many people as possible should be encouraged to provide motorway services? In answer to the Minister's request for useful suggestions, I ask him to reconsider that part of the former Road Traffic Bill introduced by the Conservative Government which would enable small road transport operators more easily to get licences to operate services in remote places such as motorway restaurants and cafés.

Mr. Mulley

The hon. Gentleman is stretching things rather far in his last remarks in thinking that a substantial change in standards and prices would be secured if a minibus service were allowed to operate in the middle of the night to facilitate the staff turn-round. If he can give me more than an off-the-cuff appreciation of that suggestion, I shall certainly take it into account. The hon. Gentleman is right in saying that my hon. Friend's suggestion is worthy of consideration. All the ideas from the Government side of the House come within that category and my hon. Friend the member for Northampton, North (Mrs. Colquhoun) makes many constructive suggestions. I hope that we can pursue these ideas. Sometimes the suggestion is made that we should serve French food on our motorways at English prices. That would be the ideal solution.

Mr. Leslie Huckfield

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind despite what he says, that his Department owns these sites and that many service operators are not fulfilling the conditions of their contract because they are failing to provide separate accommodation for transport drivers or are providing it only on one side of the motorway at a time? Will he also bear in mind that, if we stay in the EEC, from 1st January 1976 the eight-hour driving day will become law, which means that lorry drivers will want much more accommodation, or does he expect the British lorry driver, as does his French and German counterpart, to have to sleep in the cab?

Mr. Mulley

I do not favour lorry drivers having to sleep in the cab. I appreciate my hon. Friend's concern to persuade me to take a pro-Eupropean view in the forthcoming controversy, but I content myself by saying that after the referendum we shall have to review all these matters in the European context. It is true that my Department owns the sites, but it is not responsible for the catering arrangements and breaking the contracts would pose considerable problems. If my hon. Friend knows of breaches in the conditions, my officers will follow them up.

Mr. Raison

Is the Minister aware that when he speaks from the Government Dispatch Box he speaks not as Chairman of the Labour Party but as a Minister, and that his job is to stick up for the Government and their policy of staying in the Common Market?

Mr. Mulley

The hon. Gentleman is being most helpful in pointing out our duties. I am following Government policy in the sense that I am not anticipating the outcome of the referendum. The essence of the referendum is that the British people will determine the outcome and we shall accept their decision.