HC Deb 03 July 1995 vol 263 cc11-2
12. Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to improve transport facilities in London. [30129]

Mr. Norris

We shall continue to work in partnership with local government and the private sector in delivering the on-going programme of carefully targeted road improvements and traffic management measures, allied to very heavy investment in public transport.

Mr. Banks

One of the things that could be done to improve movement around London would be the greater co-ordination of all road works. Why are bridges still being closed without any apparent co-ordination? Can we have an assurance that, in the event of the Conservative leadership election going to a second round, there will be co-ordination of all road works associated with the installation of new telephone lines by British Telecommunications, so that the whole of Westminster is not turned into a large building site?

Mr. Norris

The trouble is that that question is long on rhetoric and short on specifics. The reality is that there is indeed a group to co-ordinate road works, and bridge works in particular. The hon. Gentleman is right in saying that bridges are vital, in the sense that they concentrate traffic into narrow corridors. Whenever there is the prospect of more than one bridge being repaired at any one time, there is an extensive programme of co-ordination.

I recently heard the figure of 30,000 utility diversions in one borough alone mentioned in respect of the huge number of utility adaptations, including cabling and so forth, which are very much in evidence at the moment. I share the hon. Gentleman's frustration, but all the boroughs and the Department take the matter very seriously.

Mr. Brooke

Granted that the reputation of the Department would stand even higher if there were greater stability and predictability for its public expenditure forecasts for London Transport, will my hon. Friend accept the gratitude of some London Members for the fact that the Department has begun to repair the investment deficiencies that occurred when London Transport was under the London county council and the Greater London council?

Mr. Norris

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend because he makes an extremely important point. On 1994 prices, investment rose above £150 million only in the mid-1980s and now stands at somewhere around £1 billion a year in London Transport infrastructure alone, along with a heavy programme of investment in railway and road infrastructure. My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to contrast that with the dismal record of previous Administrations. We need take no lessons from the Opposition on the amount that we have invested in transport infrastructure in London.