Infrastructure Investment

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 3 December 2014.

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Photo of Andrew Jones Andrew Jones Conservative, Harrogate and Knaresborough 11:30, 3 December 2014

What assessment he has made of the level of infrastructure investment in Wales since 2010.

Photo of Neil Carmichael Neil Carmichael Conservative, Stroud

What steps he is taking to improve transport infrastructure links between Wales and England.

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

For too long, Wales has suffered from under-investment in infrastructure, so I am proud to be part of a Government who are putting that right. By working closely with the Welsh Government and providing additional economic resources, we have been able to set out a long-term vision for how first-class infrastructure will make Wales a more attractive place in which to invest, benefiting the people of Wales for generations to come.

Photo of Andrew Jones Andrew Jones Conservative, Harrogate and Knaresborough

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer and commend him on his work in securing the valley lines electrification. Does he agree that this project will have a transformative effect on those communities that were often left behind by previous Labour Governments?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and his kind remarks. He is absolutely right. It was precisely because we did not want to leave those valley communities behind that we worked so hard with the Welsh Government to secure the full electrification package, electrifying the great western line all the way through to Swansea, plus electrifying those valley lines, which, as he says, will have a transformative economic and social impact for many years to come.

Photo of Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards Shadow PC Spokesperson (Treasury), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Business, Innovation and Skills), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Transport), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Communities and Local Government), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Wales), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Wales)

The Welsh Government have published figures on proposed roads expenditure showing that spending per head of population in south-west Wales will be £89, whereas the figure will be £815 for south-east Wales. Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Swansea will not have a single penny spent on roads, which means that there will be no money for relief roads for Llandeilo, Ammanford and Pencader in my constituency, and nothing for upgrades to the link between Newcastle Emlyn and Carmarthen. Is it not the case that the stitch up between the UK Government and the Welsh Government to spend all Wales’s new borrowing capacity on a new M4 relief road means that there will be no transport infrastructure for the rest of Wales?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

With respect to the hon. Gentleman, he has got this wrong. A Plaid Cymru former Transport Minister in the Assembly championed the upgrade of the M4, but could not achieve it, because the money was not available, but we are providing the resources for that upgrade. That does not mean that no other project can happen throughout Wales, however, and I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we want more infrastructure investment in west Wales; we share that objective.

Photo of Neil Carmichael Neil Carmichael Conservative, Stroud

Does the Secretary of State agree that the Government’s investment in redoubling the Stroud to Swindon railway line, plus the promised investment in the A417 roundabout, add up to much improved links between the midlands and north Wales, which will be excellent for trade, manufacturing and tourism?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

My hon. Friend makes his point extremely well. There is a broader point: infrastructure investment not necessarily inside Wales, but in border areas, benefits people and businesses across Wales. We should not be insular when considering infrastructure investment throughout the UK because it often delivers real benefits to all parts of Wales.

Photo of Siân James Siân James Labour, Swansea East

Tidal Lagoon Power in my constituency is mentioned in the national infrastructure plan. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating that important company on how it has worked with determination and grit to get the project through?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

I echo the sentiments of the hon. Lady, who is a strong supporter of this important project. The quality of that company’s management, vision and business plan was precisely why I wanted the project to be included in the national infrastructure plan. It is also why I have been working hard with colleagues in the Treasury and the Department of Energy and Climate Change to get this potentially strategic project included in our long-term infrastructure plans.

Photo of Chris Ruane Chris Ruane Labour, Vale of Clwyd

In 2009 I managed to convince my right hon. Friend Mr Hain to allow Denbighshire and Conwy into the objective 1 bid. Since then, those two counties have received about £500 million of EU funding. Will the Secretary of State congratulate the EU on that funding and recognise the danger to Wales of our pulling out of the EU?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

The biggest danger to Wales, including north Wales, would be to abandon our clear long-term economic plan, which I know Labour Members are calling for. When I spent two days in north Wales on a business tour last week, I visited many Labour Members’ constituencies and saw just how dynamic the private sector is. Businesses in that sector are leading the economic recovery, so they are the ones that we should be saluting.

Photo of David Davies David Davies Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee, Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee

I commend my right hon. Friend on his commitment to the M4 relief road. The Severn bridge will link on to that relief road, so will he consider the importance of having a plan for when it returns to public ownership in approximately 2018?

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

My hon. Friend talks about an important issue that has been raised by Members on both sides of the House in recent months. I commend his work personally and that of his Select Committee on examining the impact of Severn bridge tolls on businesses and consumers in Wales. I share his concerns about the levels of the tolls. I want a long-term plan in place, so I look forward to discussing his ideas with him in more detail.

Photo of Nia Griffith Nia Griffith Shadow Minister (Wales)

The Secretary of State says that his Government are investing in the electrification of the railways and building a prison, and now he talks about the tidal lagoon, but is not the reality that they have not yet spent a single penny on any of those projects? They have not laid a brick or a yard of electric rail. In fact, the situation is worse, because his Government have cut the Welsh capital budget by a quarter, and no amount of jam tomorrow can sweeten that unpalatable truth.

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

I am genuinely bemused by the hon. Lady’s question. Let us just remind ourselves that under the Labour Government no work was done to improve the M4, and not a single mile of railway line was electrified in Wales. We are cracking on with a long-term plan for infrastructure investment, and I am very proud to be part of a Government who are doing that.

Photo of Mark Williams Mark Williams Liberal Democrat, Ceredigion

I very much welcome what the Secretary of State said about electrification in south Wales, but will he turn his sights to the position in west Wales? Is he prepared to meet a delegation from the Traws Link Cymru group, which is campaigning to reopen the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line? That would benefit our economy immeasurably and open up our part of the world generally. Is he prepared to push that agenda forward?

D

Traws Link Cymru (http://www.trawslinkcymru.org.uk) are actually campaigning for the reopening of the lines between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth and between Afon Wen on the Cambrian Coast line and Bangor. I assume Mark Williams' question was misheard.

Submitted by Duncan Parkes

Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb The Secretary of State for Wales

My hon. Friend is a strong voice for improving all transport connections in west and mid-Wales. We are seeing the largest investment in our railway infrastructure since Victorian times, and I want Wales to get the maximum benefit from that. I would very much welcome a meeting with the group that he has mentioned so that we can discuss further how we can make sure that west and mid-Wales benefit from rail infrastructure investment as much as anywhere else.