Contribution
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Efford. This is the second debate in a week that we have had on railway lines. I will not repeat everything that I said in last week’s debate, which was just about Devon, but we touched on Old Oak Common last week and I am keen to do so again today.
It is worth reminding anybody who is listening or reading the Hansard report that it was the coalition Government of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives who first published the White Paper for HS2 in 2010. There has been quite a lot of Conservative Government-bashing in this debate so far, but let us be realistic that it was a coalition decision. However, I will remain friends with my Liberal Democrat colleagues, with whom I work across Devon, and speak about the topic before us.
I will repeat one thing I said last week, because it is important: Devon and the wider south-west are not just holiday destinations. As the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) says, we have a thriving local economy. We are keen to make sure that it grows. Anything that hinders rail travel in and out of the south-west will have a problematic impact.
It is also worth noting that in the past few years we have celebrated achieving a three-hour train trip between Plymouth and London. I benefit from that when I get the 6.55 am train on a Monday, and no doubt many businesspeople and others travelling to London benefit in the same way. It is incredibly disappointing that that much sought-after shorter journey time will be put to one side over the next few years. My constituency of South West Devon is in exactly the same position as the constituencies of other hon. Members who have spoken. I can see no material benefits at the moment, except perhaps easier access to the Elizabeth line and, I suppose, Heathrow airport, for those of us fortunate enough to go on holiday from time to time.
The point to which I want to draw the most attention has already been covered, but is worth mentioning again: the £30 million mitigation, which the Government seem so proud of, to reassure people and compensate those who will be disrupted by the works at Old Oak Common. As has already been made clear, that will essentially pay for depot changes and electrification closer to London, so I struggle to see how it will compensate my constituents and others who live in the south-west.
Last week, not knowing the breakdown, I gave the Minister some suggestions for what that money could be spent on to make a material impact, including wi-fi. Finalising the business case for the Tavistock-Plymouth line, which would create a great horseshoe around the far reach of Devon, would need £1.5 million, which is not that much out of £30 million. Perhaps some of those things would be adequate compensation. CrossCountry currently refuses to stop at Ivybridge in my constituency, because it claims that the platforms are not long enough. I am not convinced that that is actually the problem, but would it not be great to use the money to extend the platforms at Ivybridge? Can the Minister commit this morning to reassessing the £30 million mitigation pot so that the south-west—and Wales, which other hon. Members have mentioned—see some benefits?
I am also very concerned about the communications. The rail Minister in the other place came back to us very quickly after a meeting about communications, but the works will have an impact on a variety of weekends and days. I am struggling to get my head around that; no doubt other Members are, too. We need a commitment to making sure that the changes are explicitly communicated to residents and tourists alike.
My final thought is about a subject that has come up in the Transport Committee, of which I am a member. Great Western Railway is a big user of delay repay. Ultimately, delay repay is at the cost of the taxpayer. I do not want to be completely negative, but there will be inevitable delays on top of the lengthened train trips as a result of construction work. Who will pay for the inevitable increased delay repay claims? I assume it will be the good people of the south-west and the rest of the country. It is worth looking at the issue in the round and acknowledging that there is not just inconvenience, but huge cost.