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Donate to our crowdfunderDavid Clelland: Will the Minister give way?
David Clelland: The £1.7 million that the Minister mentions came from the Department for Transport, not from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. On the point that he makes about ongoing discussions, that is not my impression, having spoken to the director of the passenger transport executive only an hour ago. There have been no further discussions since the meeting that he had with the Minister last week.
David Clelland: How important are social mobility and public transport to inner-city regeneration? How can they help inner-city regeneration on Tyneside when the passenger transport authority has to fund a £5 million deficit to finance the Government's free bus fare system from April?
David Clelland: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local authorities have a forecast shortfall in excess of £1 million in relation to allocated funding for the free bus travel scheme following announcement of the local government revenue support grants.
David Clelland: The Prime Minister will recall the jubilation last year when the Chancellor announced that from April next year, pensioners and the disabled would receive free bus travel. But is he aware that there have been unintended consequences for Tyne and Wear, where there is a £7.3 million shortfall between the cost of running the scheme and the money being provided through the revenue support grant?...
David Clelland: I welcome the extra measures that the Minister has announced to assist local authorities with the introduction of new free off-peak bus travel schemes from next April. I thank him for the sympathetic way in which he listened to those of us who lobbied him on the matter over the past few months. Will he assure the House that the measures he has announced today will ensure that no local...
David Clelland: Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Highways Agency is blocking much needed development of business and housing in my constituency on the basis that that would add to congestion on the A1 western bypass around Gateshead and Newcastle? Can we have an early debate on the powers of the Highways Agency, which has failed over many years to take any action whatsoever to relieve congestion on...
David Clelland: May I tell my right hon. Friend that I, for one, will support the Government in the Lobby this afternoon? Does he agree that those who oppose the Government may well end up with something a lot more tragic than egg on their faces? However—there is always a "however"—I cannot offer the same support for the Government's proposals on schools. Does he agree that there should be the same...
David Clelland: I am interested in the direction that this conversation is taking. Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Minister recently said that property-based taxes were introduced at a time when services—such as water, electricity and sewerage—were based on property, while services today, including education and social services, are based on people? Do the Minister's comments suggest that the...
David Clelland: The Secretary of State will be aware that many Labour Members have grave concerns about her proposals and cannot possibly support them in their present form. There is no question that she and the Prime Minister have the best interests of young people at heart, but many of us fear that the proposals could be damaging to many young people in Tyne Bridge and similar constituencies up and down...
David Clelland: Has the Leader of the House seen early-day motion 571 on House of Lords reform, which has been tabled by some eminent right hon. and hon. Members? [That this House welcomes the Government's commitment to a free vote on the composition of Parliament's revising chamber; believes that the House of Lords should be replaced by a chamber which is predominately elected; and believes that the Second...
David Clelland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2005, Official Report, column 699W, on travel concessions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the contribution to the relief of traffic congestion that might be made by abolishing the taxation applied to employer-provided travel concessions.
David Clelland: What we need are more flexible opening hours, and that is one welcome aspect of the Act. Flexible opening hours will certainly be a big improvement on the current position. Few if any establishments will want to open for 24 hours. Indeed, I think the Minister confirmed that none had applied to do so. A more flexible system to replace a single chucking-out time will probably lead to a more...
David Clelland: So far as I am aware, this proposal has been trialled throughout Europe, and notably in Scotland, for many years. The experience is that flexible opening does lead to less binge drinking and to less trouble on the streets. The Act will also give local representatives more power to control licensed premises in their area in the interests of the local community, and to tailor activities and...
David Clelland: The Minister will be aware of much local concern about the possible effects of the Licensing Act on local clubs. I have looked at the membership of the licensing fees review panel, under the excellent chairmanship of my old friend, Sir Les Elton, but I notice that no one on the panel seems to have any expertise in non-profit-making private members' clubs. Will the Minister extend the...
David Clelland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will abolish the taxation applied to employer-provided travel concessions.
David Clelland: The Minister might also be aware that I have made the case in this Chamber, even before 1997, for action to be taken to relieve congestion in the Tyne and Wear area, particularly on the A1 western bypass. The second tunnel will greatly help in that direction, so will he listen to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn), who has been putting the case well over many years, and take...
David Clelland: I congratulate my hon. Friend on introducing this measure, which I know is very close to his heart; indeed, he has been desperate to get to the Dispatch Box to move this Second Reading. Getting in over one's head and into debt that one can no longer afford to pay drives some people into depression and, in other tragic cases, even to suicide. A main cause is the high interest rates that some...
David Clelland: Is the Minister aware that passenger use of light rail systems, such as the Tyne and Wear Metro and its counterparts in other conurbations, may suffer an unintentional reduction? That will happen if the free travel service to be introduced next year is not extended to such systems. That free service is welcome, but private bus operators will profit at the expense of publicly run services....
David Clelland: May I begin by congratulating you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on your return as Chairman of Ways and Means, and my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Ms Barlow) on her excellent maiden speech. The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) made a fine maiden speech and I am sure that he will make a valuable contribution to our debates. He certainly has a hard act to follow in his predecessor, who was...