News from Westminster
Posted by Dawn Primarolo, MP for Bristol South, at 10:41, Fri 3 August 2007:
NEW IMPETUS TO HENGROVE PARK PLANS
Development plans for Hengrove Park, which have the South Bristol Hospital as their centrepiece, have been given a kick start.
Earlier this year, in April, the Department of Health gave its seal of approval to the scheme, and agreed to the £45m needed to construct our hospital. However, the hospital is just one part of a much bigger project to meet the needs of South Bristol residents by making better use of Hengrove Park. So, the government-funded swimming pool and sports centre (Healthplex) next door will give us leisure facilities where we can keep fit. Plus, the £29m South Bristol Skills Academy will provide us with a place where we can train and re-train for skilled employment or higher education.
Last week, I chaired a meeting with key stakeholders to kick start this wider project after it had, unfortunately, been allowed to drift for some time. However, with recent changes at Bristol City Council, new impetus is now being given to delivering this crucial scheme.
We are now at a critical stage, where we must ensure that all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place before actual building work can begin. Provided final planning approval is given in the autumn, construction of our hospital should start early next year, and open in mid-2009, with the Healthplex and Skills Academy following shortly behind.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND THAMES FLOODS
Part of my role as Public Health Minister is 'emergency preparedness', which meant that I have had to attend a number of meetings with other government departments and key agencies to deal with the terrible flooding in Gloucestershire and around the Thames. The emergency services and the armed forces have done an excellent job in very challenging circumstances, making a real difference to the lives of many local people.
DELIVERING A SUSTAINABLE RAILWAY
A railway that will expand to carry at least 180 million more passengers is at the heart of Labour's rail white paper, published last week. Capacity will increase to cope with more than 20% growth in the next seven years, on a network that will be even safer and more reliable.
The strategy, Deliving a Sustainable Railway, also allows for potential doubling in capacity over 30 years through continual and rational growth of a rail network, which is flexible is enough to respond to changing passenger demand. Major cities around the country will benefit from extra capacity - with the Government delivering 1300 extra carriages in the years to 2014. More than £10bn will be invested in growing capacity in this period, and more than 150 stations will be refurbished and upgraded at a cost of £150m.
PUTTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING WITHIN THE REACH OF THE MANY
Labour's Green Paper on housing will accelerate action to tackle wealth and housing inequality and support the aspirations of hard-working families, young people and communities.
While there are 1.5m more homes than in 1997, and we now have the highest rate of housebuilding for nearly 20 years, supply has not kept pace with demand for a generation. Starkly, although 223,000 more households are created a year, currently only 185,000 homes are built. So, new investment, targets and proposals have been announced as part of a radical programme to meet the Prime Minister's pledge of three million more homes by 2020:
£8bn programme for affordable housing in 2008-11 - a £2.5bn increase compared to the previous three years;
More homes to meet growing demand - 3m new homes by 2020 - backed by ambitious building targets, increased investment and new ways of identifying land for development. This will include new and existing growth points and an invitation for local authorities and developers to propose 5 new eco-town schemes;
More affordable housing - at least 70,000 more affordable homes a year by 2010-11, including 45,000 social homes a year and a goal of 50,000 social homes a year in the next spending review with a 50% increase in social housing over 3 years, doubling the level compared to 2004;
Building homes more quickly - unblocking the planning system and releasing land for development. New incentives for councils and developers to bring forward land more quickly;
Well-designed and greener homes - with higher environmental standards, linked to transport, schools and health infrastructure including a £300m community infrastructure fund to support additional transport infrastructure. All new homes will be zero carbon.
Maintaining sustainable communities - through reinforcing guidance to prevent inappropriate development in flood risk areas and maintaining the existing policy on the green belt.
RECORD-BREAKING ECONOMIC SUCCESS WELCOMED
Figures published recently confirmed that the UK economy has grown for sixty consecutive quarters - the longest expansion on record.
In the past, while we've had short periods of growth in the UK, we've never had a sustained period like this one, where the country has got better off for a decade and a half. In fact, the economy has prospered for so long that one in five people living in Bristol South today have never experienced anything other than economic growth. The contrast with the Tories could not be starker. During the eighteen years of the last government, local residents suffered the two deepest recessions of the twentieth century. Jobs were lost. Homes were repossessed on a shocking scale. Unemployment hit three million for the first time.
Guarding our economic growth in a challenging world climate will remain Labour's priority. So, while we recognise sixty quarters of growth is a superb achievement, we're determined to keep working for more.
ANY QUESTIONS?
If you have any queries about these issues, or have a question you would like to ask about anything else, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Just email primarolod@parliament.uk, phone 0117 909 0063 or write to me at PO Box 1002, Bristol, BS99 1WH.
Comments
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Posted by Peter Frost, 11:11, Fri 3 August 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
I would imagine that it will do no harm at all to the Bristol South Hospital project to have a local MP as the Minster of Health and I am glad to see it moving forward.
My opinion is that many of the subscribers to this list are local voters so I would ask you to give most time to local issues on any messages you leave here.
Good Luck
Peter Ashton, Bristol.
Posted by Steve Knowlson, 18:23, Sat 4 August 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
It is good to see that the Hengrove park development is progressing - the Hospital, Healthplex and Academy will make a real difference to the area.
The news about the railway is welcome, although with First Great Western running it, that welcome should be guarded.
I'm somewhat mystified by the statement that you have made about housing. Although there has been clearly considerable growth in home construction, it seems to be almost exclusively flats, and not very affordable ones at that.
How can the Government compel housebuilders to construct affordable family homes, when it's much more profitable for them to build pricey flats?
One thing you fail to mention in your email is the dreadful and deteriorating state of Bristol's public transport. Is it right that First can charge some of the most expensive bus fares in Europe to your constituents, many of whom live in deprived areas?
A couple of years ago I tried taking the bus from Southville to get me to work at Southmead Hospital - it lasted a fortnight before I went back to my car! For two reasons: 1, totally unreliable - the service made me late for work on several occasions, and 2, no cheaper than driving.
The only solution that Bristol City Council and the Department for Transport can offer is "Showcase" bus routes - also run by First. Anecdotally these are not very good, as they have to share Bristol's congested roads with other traffic and are also expensive, with First ramping up fares way above inflation, year on year.
It's about time Bristol got its fair share of Government funding for transport; other comparable cities such as Nottingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Edinburgh etc receive decent transport settlements from the DfT, so why can't we.
In the last round of funding, Bristol (pop. 400,000) received £42 million from the DfT, Bath (pop. 90,000) received £37 million - how can this be fair?
Bristol's congestion problems will only be sorted out by decent investment in our transport infrastructure, not half-baked, cheap options like "Showcase" buses or the frankly crazy idea of Congestion Charging. How are we supposed to get to work if that comes in? By First bus - I think not!
Regards
Steve Knowlson
Posted by Dawn Primarolo, 11:44, Thu 16 August 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
Before I begin I just want to say ‘thanks’ for taking the time to respond to my earlier message. It’s great to hear your views. I’ll be logging onto the website over the coming weeks and months, so do keep telling me what you think.
Peter: I am pleased you share my enthusiasm for the South Bristol Hospital project. I’ll do my best to keep you posted about this, and other local issues, as you request – although I do think it’s important that I also talk about some of the things I am involved with on a national level.
Steve: On housing, I believe we need to strike a balance between providing more family housing and recognising that much of the rise in the number of households is due to the fact that more and more people are living alone, or in couples. This means that smaller residential spaces, such as flats, will be required in order to keep up with demand and ensure these people don’t have to pay large sums for family houses they simply don’t need.
In addition, by 2010-11 we will build 70,000 more affordable homes, including 45,000 social homes, each year. The latter figure will rise to 50,000 social homes a year in the next spending review, with a 50% increase in social housing over 3 years, doubling the level compared to 2004. We will also increase shared equity support for first-time buyers, with a new 17.5% equity loan for Open Market Homebuy being made available alongside the existing scheme.
With regard to transport, I freely accept that we face challenges here in Bristol. I have written to First Bus many times on behalf of constituents, and as a bus user myself, to raise concerns about service reliability and fare increases. Especially as, for example, in Bristol a FirstMonth bus pass costs £68 for coverage across the whole city, whereas in Leeds (a city roughly similar in size to Bristol) a FirstMonth pass costs just £48. It is clear that First Bus must do more to reduce these disparities in service and cost.
Nevertheless, the City Council and Government have a crucial role to play in helping the buses to run more smoothly, which is where the Showcase Bus Routes come in. As you say, many of the problems stem from the fact that the buses have to share Bristol’s congested roads with other traffic, so these routes are designed to provide more separation through bus lanes and other priority measures. I am sorry to hear that your experience of the 76/77 route was not a good one – overall, I understand, reliability has increased compared with before the measures were introduced, with a consequent increase in patronage.
Labour is fully committed to investing in our local transport infrastructure, and it is simply wrong to suggest that Bristol receives a disproportionately low amount of funding. In the most recent Local Transport Plan, for example, almost £12m has been awarded to the Greater Bristol area for integrated transport each year, with Bristol City Council getting just under half (Bath gets £2m). This is on top of the £42m that has been announced for the Greater Bristol Bus Network.
Furthermore, in May we published the draft Local Transport Bill, which includes a host of new measures designed to increase the standards of public transport throughout the country. Included within it are measures to allow the Transport Commission to hold both local authorities and bus operators to account for poor performance.
The Bill also provides powers for local authorities to come together to form transport authorities – similar to Transport for London – which have wide-ranging new powers and will give local authorities more scope and more tools to hold bus operators fully to account and demand better standards. I firmly believe that Bristol should have such a transport authority.
So, Labour is providing investment in our transport infrastructure, and empowering councils to demand better services from bus providers. While it is crucial, too, that First Bus keep their side of the bargain, it is also incumbent upon each and every one of us to help them provide the better service we all want, by avoiding taking unnecessary car journeys.
Posted by Steve Knowlson, 23:47, Wed 22 August 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
Dear Dawn,
Thank you for your response.
I must take issue with your comment that it is wrong to suggest that Bristol receives a disproportionately low amount of funding for public transport, and indeed transport in general.
If you deny that this is the case, then how do you account for the parlous state of public transport in Bristol? Why do we have the lowest average speed of traffic of all the English Core Cities? Some of the worst air quality in the country. Some of the highest bus fares in Europe, lowest bus patronage and lowest levels of reliability in the UK? Surely this is born out of inadequate funding?
Why does Bristol not have any kind of mass transit system whilst our competitor cities such as Nottingham, Newcastle-Gateshead, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham all have trams, Metros or extensive urban rail networks? Leeds is about to build a bus rapid-transit system and Edinburgh is starting construction on their tram network. Where has the money come from to build these networks and why hasn't the same happened in Bristol? If Bristol has not received disproportionately low public transport funding, then I fail to understand why their systems are so much better than ours.
You mention the Greater Bristol Bus Network has received £42 million, but in the same bidding round Bath's Bus network has received only £5 million less, for a city a fifth of the size of Bristol. It's pretty immaterial how much the annual allocation is, it's the funding for major projects that actually makes the qualitative difference to public transport networks.
My job with the NHS requires me to travel in and around most of Britain's core cities and I always use public transport, so I really notice the difference compared to Bristol. It's much easier, more reliable and cheaper elsewhere.
In Bristol we have a very poor and expensive bus service and a single, under-resourced urban railway line. The money can't even be found to extend the Portbury rail track to Portishead, a rapidly growing place described in Parliament as "the largest cul-de-sac in Britain."
But it's not only other UK cities but also our European competitors that are forging ahead of Bristol when it comes to public transport and mass transit. Our twin city of Porto has built a five-line, 68 station Metro system in the five years that it has taken for Bristol to construct one-and-a-bit "Showcase" bus routes. This is surely a damning indictment of the lack of public transport funding in our city. It's not as if Portugal is massively wealthier than the UK. Bordeaux and Hannover also possess tram or Metro systems.
Bristol still does not have a Passenger Transport Authority, many years after the instigation of such bodies elsewhere in the country. I applaud the fact that we may, just possibly, finally get one but it's been a very long time coming, a bit like a First bus. You rightly point to the major disparity between bus prices in Leeds and Bristol and that First have to address these issues, but who's going to make them? Can a PTA really force First to reduce their fares? I've examined their functions and nowhere can I find any reference to powers of fare-reduction. First are a private company and they answer to their shareholders first and foremost, not their customers, so of course they'll try to milk us for as much as they can get. Labour have been in power for over ten years, yet nothing has been done to address this.
I acknowledge that much of the damage has been done by 18 years of gross underinvestment by the Tories in Bristol's infrastructure but that ended in May 1997. The public transport situation has not improved since then. In fact statistics show that it has deteriorated, both in relative cost, and reliability.
You and your aides read the local press and watch the local media. Therefore you must know that criticisms and complaints about Bristol's public transport are legion and that it is one of the largest single issues concerning Bristolians.
We all know that we've received the thin end of the wedge when it comes to Government funding for transport - the proof is on the streets, elderly, unreliable buses chugging along congested roads as we pay some of the most expensive fares in Europe.
The "Showcase" buses are certainly not some miraculous panacea for Bristol's transport woes. As you know, they are only segregated from the rest of the traffic at a few points along the routes and they're still run by First so their reliability and value for money will leave a lot to be desired.
I agree that it is incumbent on us all to reduce unnecessary car journeys but the definition of unnecessary is very different in Bristol. I hate driving in the city, at peak times it's an absolute nightmare, but far too often it is the only viable option for a young family such is the poor state of public transport.
Bristol has fallen so far behind our equivalent and competitor cities in the UK and Europe in public transport that only a major investment in a mass transit system, fully separated from road traffic will solve it's intractable and deteriorating congestion problems.
Bristolians don't want special treatment, just a fair crack of the whip to help us to get to work and move around our beautiful city and leave our cars at home.
Posted by Patrick Hulme, 21:48, Fri 31 August 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
How I agree with the message above from Steve Knowlson. The public transport in Bristol is an absolute disgrace. Cities in Germany devastated by the war, were by the 1960s already investing in their public transport infrastructure. France has made enormous strides in rail technology and they really do invest in public transport as they see it as a social service, not a money making enterprise. Since the war, places like Bristol allowed their public transport infrastructure to deteriorate, and it has become steadily worse. I do feel that politicians of all the main parties have let us down. Over the last few months I have been trying to find out who makes planning decisions on transport infrastructure in Britain, and I think the answer is basically no-one, as there are so many different organisations that don't talk to each other much. Nominally in charge is the Department for Transport, however, it is so influenced by the road lobby, that it is unable to deliver a proper public transport system. Dawn Primarolo cites various investments in the railway, and there will be some, but it is basically the bare minimum to allow the railway to contine as it is, with no funds for real improvement and expansion. Coming back to Bristol, the situation is now so bad that only a massive injection of funds will provide us with a proper city transit system (preferably rail based). The only solution the council has is to provide us with more buses run by the infamous First Group.
Patrick Hulme