London: Office Development (Hansard, 13 July 1990)

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, London needs to compete effectively with its international financial and commercial rivals, if it is to continue making a substantial contribution to national prosperity. Accordingly, it is not our policy to prevent office development in London.

§ Viscount Hanworth
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply, but does he not agree that most people believe that the situation will deteriorate and that it is only a matter of time before very drastic and unpleasant measures have to be taken? A prohibition on further office development in the centre would be comparatively harmless and should be put into practice until transport is improved. Should we not encourage the development of further office accommodation in the Docklands?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I cannot agree with the noble Viscount. Efficient business requires modern offices. If office development is artificially constrained, the modernisation which normally takes place does not take place. Also, it would increase rents. Both those effects would damage London's position as a pre-eminent financial centre and the Government do not intend to give any encouragement to the prohibition suggested by the noble Viscount.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, while not necessarily denying that, is it not also true that a modern capital city demands a modern transport system? Is it not an 548 undeniable fact that London does not have a modern transport system, as has been shown in the past week by the fact that half of District Line trains have had to be taken out of service for modification and safety purposes? What are the Government doing to try to improve the transport infrastructure of London?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, we are doing a great deal to improve London's transport system in response to the upsurge in its economic fortunes which we have seen in the past decade. The Government have backed a massive investment programme in London's transport system and, in particular, in its public transport. For example, British Rail is planning to invest £1.2 billion in Network SouthEast over the next three years which is a 30 per cent. increase in real terms over the previous three years. London Transport also plans to invest £2.2 billion over the next three years which, in real terms, is nearly twice the investment over the past three years. Therefore, it is very much the Government's policy to encourage the development of public transport.

§ Lord Ezra
My Lords, my noble friend has referred to the Underground system, but will the noble Lord also comment on the obstructive nature of unregulated coach travel? I am finding it extremely difficult to approach your Lordships' House from the south because of all the coaches collected there. In areas like Victoria they are an even worse obstruction.

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, the noble Lord raises a question which strikes a chord around the House but it does not come under the terms of the Question on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, the Minister said that London must compete effectively and we all agree with that. The difficulty arises when one tries to compare profit-making with efficiency. It is very difficult to believe that London is an efficient city. It could be much more efficient if transport was improved and there was some re-allocation of business. That is already taking place in the Docklands which is taking away some traffic from central London. Has the Minister considered the possibility, as is the case in certain other capitals, of a transport tax on businesses which have large numbers of employees coming into the centre of London?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I believe that the noble Lord is raising the question of road pricing. There are formidable difficulties on that. We do not rule it out indefinitely but we shall see how it develops abroad.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, I am not talking about road pricing. To help public transport, Paris and certain other cities impose a tax on people who have businesses in the centre of the city.

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, it is very much our policy to make commuting by public transport more attractive than by road. Therefore, we have ruled out major new road developments within London and we have spent a great deal on making public transport more attractive.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, that is simply living in a fantasy world. Is the Minister aware that the latest report from London Transport shows that more 549 people are using their cars and that bus services are declining because the roads are so congested? When will the Government wake up to the facts of life on transport matters relating to London?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I believe that the noble Lord is quoting from figures recently published by London Transport. Those are not government figures and I cannot comment in detail upon them. However, I can say that it is our policy to spend a great deal of money on making public transport into London more attractive and to encourage its use by the public.

§ Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
My Lords, turning to the original Question, in view of the very high demand for office space in London, surely it must be evident that the services cannot be that inefficient, otherwise the demand would not exist?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I believe that my noble friend makes a very good point.

§ Lord Ennals
My Lords, if the Minister does not accept the figures published by London Transport, from what other sources does the Ministry obtain its information?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I did not say that I did not accept the figures. The figures are recently published and I cannot comment in detail upon them. I re-emphasise that we do not wish to make it easier for commuters to drive into central London, and to that purpose London Transport and British Rail are pending substantial sums of money on investment in public transport.

§ Lord Kennet
My Lords, can the Minister name any major city in the world comparable in population with London where the railway system, both overground and underground, receives less capital help from the public taxpayer?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, as I said earlier, London Transport plans to invest £2.2 billion over the next three years. That is twice the rate invested over the past three years. The £400 million investment in London Underground which is to take place in 1990–1991 will be two and a half times higher than the figure for 1984–85, which was the last year attributable to the GLC.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, in all his replies the Minister has said what is planned to be done. Can he say what has been done? What have the Government done over the past 11 years towards easing transport problems, which have grown enormously during that period for Londoners and other people using the transport systems in London?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, during the 1980s there has been an upsurge in the economic life of the capital and in the numbers of people wishing to live and work in London. It is in response to that development that the investment of which I spoke is taking place.