HL Deb 06 July 1981 vol 422 cc454-6

2.40 p.m.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide the British Waterways Board with extra funds for the extensive repairs required to the long Blisworth tunnel on the Grand Union Canal, bearing in mind that, apart from the sometimes difficult Oxford Canal, it is the only route to the northern canal system from just south of Birmingham.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, the British Waterways Board decides its own priorities within the resources available to it. We are aware of the importance that the board attaches to repairing and reopening Blisworth Tunnel. We are already considering a request by the board for extra grant towards maintenance in future years.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for that reply. Does he realise, first, that the repairs to Blisworth Tunnel are estimated to cost £1¼ million, which is far beyond what anybody originally budgeted for? Secondly, does he realise that the only alternative route north is the Oxford Canal; that maintenance of that canal is poor, to say the least; that it suffers from water shortages in a dry summer, making it virtually unusable, and that this factor makes the repair of Blisworth Tunnel vital? Can the noble Earl at least give some hope of helping in this very expensive repair?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, the British Waterways Board has a large number of items requiring urgent attention within the limited public funds available to it. My understanding is that the repair work on this tunnel could spread over two years at a possible cost of £2 million. The board intends to start as soon as its budgets allow, but is unlikely to commence this year. I was aware of the Oxford Canal and I know that it remains an alternative, but not a very happy one.

Lady Kinloss

My Lords, would the Minister not agree that this is very hard on hire firms on either side of the tunnel?

The Earl of Avon

Yes, my Lords. I do, indeed, agree. I think it is hard on all the cruising public who wish to use this tunnel.

Lord George-Brown

My Lords, is the Minister aware that this has very much more to do with the nation's economy than it has to do with the cruising public, whoever they be? The Minister said that the Waterways Board is free to decide its priorities within the funds allocated to it. Is it not true that that is no answer at all to the Question? If heavy freight is not carried on these waterways, then it will aggravate the situation that we now have on the M1, the M4 and I would not know how many other roads, which are breaking up because heavy freight, which could go on the canals, cannot go on the canals because the Government will not decide upon a priority. May I therefore ask the Minister to go back to the Question, which is whether the Government, using their judgment about priorities, will make more funds available for the Waterways Board so that the Waterways Board can more sensibly use its judgment about its priorities?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, like the noble Lord who asked the question, I will go back to my original Answer, which says that the Government are already considering a request by the board for extra grants towards maintenance in future years. Therefore, we are considering the matter. So far as the noble Lord's diversion into the commercial aspect is concerned, I must stress that this is a cruising, not a commercial canal.

Lord Moyne

My Lords, will the Government take into consideration the fact that this kind of work gives a great deal of employment? Does not the cost therefore amount to much less when the employment given is taken into account?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that suggestion. I am sure that the department will bear it in mind.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, although I appreciate the readiness of the Government to give some assistance, is the Minister aware that the annual report of the British Waterways Board states that the arrears of maintenance work now amount to £120 million and that this amount is growing each year? Is this not, therefore, false economy? And has not the board said that because of the 10 per cent. cut in its grant it could not carry out essential work during the last 12 months, which included the work on the Blisworth Tunnel? May I therefore ask the Minister whether or not the question is one of urgent work on some of the tunnels which are 200 years old?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, this comes back to the question from the noble Lord on the Cross-Benches; it is a question of where the priorities for money lie. Looking at the figures which I have in front of me, over the past eight years there has been very little change, so both parties have a guilt complex about long-term maintenance.

Lord George-Brown

My Lords, speaking on behalf of the Social Democratic Party, may I say that we have no responsibility for either party's policy.

Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe

No, my Lords, and the noble Lord is not likely to have any such responsibility.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, the noble Lord may say that, but having just read the policy of the Social Democratic Party, I did not know that there was anything about waterways in it.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, can the noble Earl confirm that the British Waterways Board are getting about one-quarter of what was considered necessary, according to a report made some years ago, to bring the canals back to a state in which they could be properly maintained? Therefore, as has already been pointed out, the situation is extremely serious and unsatisfactory.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, I imagine that the noble Lord is referring to the Frankel Report of 1974 which said that a lot of money was necessary for what one might call long-term maintenance, and it still is.