Mr Reginald Eyre: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made it clear that the east coast main line electrification proposal is dependent upon British Rail's review of the inter-city financial position. The 10-year programme is also part of the long-term debate about the future of the railways.
Mr Reginald Eyre: The effect on traffic levels is one of the factors that I expect the British Railways Board to take into account when bringing forward proposals for investment in new rolling stock.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I have listened carefully to my hon. Friend. Research in London and the south-east shows that passengers' main concerns are over punctuality, reliability and cleaner carriages. One must achieve the proper emphasis, but I shall certainly consider my hon. Friend's suggestions.
Mr Reginald Eyre: Such incidents cause great anxiety and I shall certainly draw the hon. Gentleman's remarks to the attention of British Rail.
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman knows that Government support for British Rail is at a record level and that it is for British Rail to generate extra resources for investment, by increased efficiency. The hon. Gentleman has posed a misleading question about Shildon because that deals with wagon repair and production and it is as a result of the profound change in investment in the new wagon system that...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I note my hon. Friend's anxiety. The British Railways Board has a good programme of refurbishment, which will provide a much improved service, but I shall be glad to draw my hon. Friend's remarks to the attention of British Rail.
Mr Reginald Eyre: Concessionary fare schemes are for individual local authorities to decide. They are not required to notify my Department of details.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I agree that there are differences, but they do not follow the party political pattern that the hon. Gentleman described——
Mr Reginald Eyre: It is not possible to consider imposing a national scheme——
Mr Reginald Eyre: Circumstances vary widely between local authorities. They must be able to make their decisions about support in the light of their knowledge of the needs and circumstances of their areas.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I am sorry to hear about such difficulties. I should welcome and encourage moves by local authorities to harmonise such arrangements.
Mr Reginald Eyre: The right hon. Gentleman is right in saying that such problems are experienced by the elderly throughout Britain, but the way in which the problems are dealt with, the measures that are brought forward and the services provided, differ so much according to local circumstances that it is right to leave local authorities to make the best arrangements that they can for the population in their...
Mr Reginald Eyre: It may be helpful if at this point I intervene to give a brief indication of the Government's view on the Bill. The Government have considered the content of the Bill and have no objection to the powers sought by the British Railways Board. However, I should point out that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for reasons connected with the use of agricultural...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The right hon. Gentleman was implying that there was an imminent state of collapse. I must remind him that the Serpell report conceded the areas in which there are problems. The right hon. Gentleman and I both know that there are maintenance problems. We have developed the wise policy of earmarking part of the PSO grant to carry out such work. I believe that the right hon. Gentleman agrees...
Mr Reginald Eyre: In the early part of his speech, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer) gave in greater detail the case which I had summarised about the shift in port business from the west coast to the east and south coasts. I agree with a number of the points that he made in that part of his speech, but the hon. Gentleman must not blindly refuse to understand the adverse effect on our economy...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman described the port as a municipal enterprise. It is true that that was its concept. Hon. Members representing Bristol, together with representatives of Bristol city council, put recently to my noble Friend Lord Bellwin proposals for different treatment of the city's expenditure on docks in the calculation of its grant-related expenditure. My noble Friend undertook to have...
Mr Reginald Eyre: If the hon. Gentleman will permit me to go on, I was just coming to the point that he and my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Cockeram) raised. The hon. Member for Birkenhead and my hon. Friend suggested that the MDHC had an incentive to hang on to its surplus land. The Government accept that surplus land should be put to good use, and we have set up the Merseyside Development...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I was seeking to explain to my hon. Friend and to the hon. Member for Birkenhead what I understood to be the position regarding the major holdings of land on the Liverpool and Birkenhead sides of the river. Perhaps my hon. Friend is referring to smaller and move specific areas of land. As I understand it, there has been a transfer of large areas of the land to which I am referring, and...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I made it clear to the hon. Gentleman and to the House in my opening speech that the Government had been requiring both the MDHC and the PLA to take proper measures to achieve viability.
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman is preventing me from referring to the points made by his hon. Friend the Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing). I should like to refer to many of the points made by the hon. Member about the land in or near Newham. However, he has a misunderstanding about the land in the royal docks. It would be better if, again, I wrote to the hon. Gentleman, and I would be pleased to...
