Policy Achievements (Hansard, 11 May 1984)

§ Mr. Ridley

The Government have taken important steps to increase competition in the transport field in this country thereby promoting greater efficiency and better services to customers.

The 1980 Transport Act deregulated the long distance express coach market, leading to a substantial number of new coach services and reductions in fares. It also made it easier to introduce new local bus services by placing the onus on those opposing a new service to prove that it would be against the public interest. The 1980 Civil Aviation Act required the Civil Aviation Authority to give greater emphasis to competition between British airlines and to give users' interest equal ranking with those of airlines. We have directed the licensing of several new air services which will offer travellers a wider choice of airline.

We have substantially extended opportunities for the private sector within the transport field. The National Freight Corporation was sold in 1982 to a consortium of its own managers and employees and is now operating more profitably. Associated British Ports has also made a 473W good start in the private sector and we have recently raised £50 million from the sale of the Government's residual holdings. From 9 May major port developments will no longer be subject to Government control. We have sold 36 out of 38 English motorway service area leases, earning £48 million and leading to better, more competitive services to motorists. British Rail Hotels have been privatised; BR's hovercraft business was merged in 1981 with Hoverlloyd to form a new private sector company. BR is aiming to complete the sale of Sealink in the course of this summer; and more than £200 million of BR nonoperational property has been sold off. We have taken powers to privatise British Airways and are preparing for this to happen early in 1985. In 1981 the design and supervision work on motorway and trunk road schemes worth over £2,000 million was transferred to private firms of consulting engineers. Work on another £710 million of road schemes has since been placed with private firms.

The Government have encouraged a more competitive approach and greater efficiency within the public transport industries. The 1983 Transport Act required PTEs and LT to invite tenders for operation of any service or ancillary function where suitable. The London Regional Transport Bill, introduced in 1983 provides more scope for private sector involvement in London's public transport. Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigations have been (or will be) held into BR's London and south—east services, the British Rail Property Board, four public transport operators, London Transport bus maintenance and the Civil Aviation Authority's air traffic control activities. Under the provision of the Transport Act 1983 we have issued statutory guidance to the GLC and Metropolitan County Councils on the level of public transport revenue support in 1984–85 so helping to protect ratepayers from unreasonably high public transport subsidies. In October 1983, we gave the chairman of the Railways Board clear and realistic objectives for his business including achieving a substantial reduction in the requirement for PSO grant by 1986 while providing attractive and reliable services to the railways' customers and without embarking on a programme of major route closures.

We have approved investment to improve services to the travelling public. An extension of London Transport's Picadilly line to Heathrow terminal 4 costing £20 million has been approved, as well as the Docklands light railway costing up to £77 million which will help revitalise a rundown area. We have authorised electrification of British Rail services to Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and Hastings. We have encouraged the development of innovative local services to meet changing patterns of demand for local public transport. The London Regional Transport Bill is the first step in establishing a better organisation for public transport in London to provide better services at lower costs. Better coordination with British Rail services will also be achieved.

We have taken action to help elderly and disabled people and to draw attention to their transport needs. In May 1983 my Department organised the mobility road show, a motor show for disabled people, which gave them an opportunity to test drive a wide range of cars. A second mobility road show is planned for June 1985.

We have also made good progress in road construction, safety and environmental protection. Progress with the motorway and trunk road construction programme has been very good. We have completed more than 400 miles 474W of new national roads, including some 175 miles of motorway, and renewed to modern standards the equivalent of 300 miles of older motorway. The spending cuts in the trunk road programme made by the last Labour administration have been reversed and in 1984–85 we have further increased the funds available for national road construction and maintenance by 12½ per cent. Schemes to bypass about 110 towns and villages have been completed and a further 160 bypass schemes are now either under construction or in earlier stages of preparation.

We have approved the construction and financing of new passenger terminals and other improvements at Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

We have also given generous support to local authority capital spending. We have maintained a high level cif provision for capital investment at regional airports. Our transport supplementary grant settlements for 1983–84 and 1984–85 covered £1,266 million of capital expenditure, mainly on road improvements, including a substantial number of local bypasses, and public transport facilities, and £1,721 million of road maintenance expenditure.

We have introduced a package of measures to civilise the heavy lorry and improve its efficiency, minimising the number of lorry journeys and the damage to our roads, improving braking standards, adding sideguards and rearguards and shortly spray suppression equipment, and saving industry more than £150 million a year. To encourage the transfer of freight off the roads where this would bring environmental benefit, we have extended the range of transhipment facilities eligible for grant to waterways as well as railways, enabled British Rail's subsidiaries Freightliner and Sealink to apply for grant and raised the grant ceiling from 50 to 60 per cent. of total costs more resources are being devoted to enforcement of vehicle regulations.

We have improved motor cycle training and testing, brought in a new penalty points system for motoring offences, and improved the safety of children in cars. Following a vote in this House we have introduced compulsory front seat belt wearing. We have improved the enforcement of parking regulations and introduced streamlined and more effective procedures to deal with drinking and driving offences.

In international discussions on aviation we have carried forward our commitment to the liberalisation of air services particularly within Europe. We have secured routes from London to several major European destinations for a second United Kingdom carrier and have opened up the London—hong Kong route to British Caledonian and Cathay Pacific in addition to the existing British Airways service. We believe that the travelling public have benefited from the greater choice of services available to them. We welcomed the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the directive on scheduled interregional air services although we regretted its limited scope.

In international discussions on road haulage we have been pursuing vigorously our commitment to liberalise road freight within Europe with the objective of doing away with the system of quotas.

We have continued work on administration, regulation and international negotiations in the marine field. We have played a leading role in the work of the International Maritime Organisation. The Merchant Shipping (Liner Conferences) Act 1982 enables the United Kingdom to 475W implement the United Nations convention on a code of conduct for liner conferences which came into force in October 1983.