Baroness Randerson: My Lords, I did not think I would ever say this, but I agree entirely with the noble Lord, Lord Hannan. This is a totally shambolic situation and is symbolic of the chaos surrounding government infrastructure projects. Can the Minister tell us what assessment has been made of the cost to the economy, both of London and beyond? Does he not think that those costs will far outweigh the actual...
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, I am grateful for the indulgence of the House in allowing me to speak in the gap. I thought that we had tamed the worst excesses of parking operators with the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, but clearly that is not so. In some ways, these problems were unforeseen at that time because, as we increasingly pay by app and by debit and credit card, it becomes the case...
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, many universities are likely to suffer from this problem, and some, of course, also have hospital trusts associated with them. The noble Baroness said it was up to NHS trusts and individual institutions to manage their estates, but she knows that that is not a sustainable position, because this problem is not evenly spread across the sector and will impact very heavily on individual...
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, whatever the cause of the problem, from the passengers’ point of view there was disruption to their flights and many passengers reported being very poorly treated by their airlines. As has been pointed out, it is the airlines’ responsibility to deal with the problem, however they might be reimbursed in the end. Can the Minister explain to us what the Government intend to do to...
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of their requirement for all submissions to their consultation on the closure of railway ticket offices to be made by email on the balance of opinion in the responses to the consultation, and (2) whether this requirement will exclude those who use ticket offices because they do not have access to the internet.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government how many buses have been fitted with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhausts; and how much have they spent each year since 2016 on retrofitting buses with SCR exhausts.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government why they have paused funding for retrofitting diesel buses with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhausts; and whether they will provide details of the poor SCR performance as referred to in their letters to local authorities.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the letter from Transport for London and other organisations, dated 18 July, calling for improved compulsory basic training for motorcyclists; and what plans they have, if any, to implement the recommendations set out in that letter.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government why they are implementing cuts in funding over successive years to the Canal and River Trust, despite their recent review finding that the Canal and River Trust provides "clear value for money"; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in funding on the Trust's ability to raise additional funding from donations.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of cuts in funding to the Canal and River Trust on (1) its ability to maintain and repair the waterway network, (2) the number of resulting canal closures, (3) the maintenance of canals, bridges, locks and other associated infrastructure affected by extreme weather events, and (4) the number of jobs that will be...
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any decrease in the number of trading standards officers since 2016; and what funding they will provide to local authorities to enable them effectively to enforce existing legislation in the purview of the trading standards.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the Defence Science and Technology handbook on collision reduction equipment (1) is informed on issues of best practice in enforcement technology, and (2) accords with other police evidential and handling protocols; and what consultation they undertook with relevant stakeholders.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the most recent Home Office Type Approval system for enforcement technology, what steps if any they are taking to reduce (1) the length of time taken for the approval process to complete, and (2) the impact that this process has on (a) employment and investment in the industry, and (b) industry innovation and development of new products; and...
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, I wish to state our strong support on these Benches for this amendment; indeed, had I been confident in advance that I was going to be able to be here to speak this afternoon, I would have added my name to it. In 2017, I put down a similar amendment to what was then the Bus Services Bill. The similar issue was one that we raised from these Benches in Committee. This levelling up...
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the change to the overall cost of building the Birmingham to Crewe section of HS2 which will result from the proposed delay to building this section.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase international rail freight journeys through the Channel Tunnel; and what assessment they have made of the benefits and value for money of rail gauge enhancement projects as a way to increase the number of rail freight journeys.
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits and value for money of the Dollands Moor to Wembley W12 gauge enhancement project; what steps they are taking to implement this project; and what discussions they have had with businesses to unlock private investment in this project.
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, the train operators have made it clear that this is being imposed on them by the Government. The Government have said that only 12% of tickets are bought through ticket offices, but what does that 12% mean? In the past year there were 1.4 billion separate rail journeys, so 168 million tickets were bought in ticket offices. Passengers who use ticket offices will be inconvenienced and...
Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to regulate the use of e-bikes.
Baroness Randerson: My Lords, there have been three tragic deaths of 15 and 16 year-olds in recent months, in Cardiff, my home city, and Salford. An exciting new invention—e-bikes—are rapidly becoming a major road safety and social problem, largely because of a lack of appropriate, modern regulations. Will the Minister commit to an urgent review to consider requirements such as helmets and a minimum age for...