Speeches by Turner.

“At the moment, it is more about the characteristics of the application rather than the capacity of the grid in a particular area?”

“You mentioned that the vast majority of applications are resolved on a satisfactory timetable, as we would hope. For the minority that are not, do those applications have particular characteristics? Is there a pattern to delays for particular applications?”

“Just before we move on, is there any indication from the partial picture we do have that private installations mirror some of the uneven nature of public installations? I am thinking about regional variation, urban and rural, and income differences.”

“Moving on to the grid and grid capacity, the Committee on Climate Change and other bodies have identified grid capacity as a potential barrier to EV take-up in at least some areas. From your perspective, how much are the well-advertised problems with getting new grid connections and new grid capacity a constraint on ch…”

“Does the Minister agree that Birmingham’s exit from section 114 status is an important moment for the city? Does she further agree that it is time to start scaling back the central Government intervention?”

“If I have understood the hon. Member’s point correctly, the key is openness and transparency. We need some degree of understanding that, if GBR itself is responsible for delays, that information should be recorded so that improvements can be made. I am not convinced that GBR paying money to itself in a legal or quasi-l…”

“I think I agree with at least most of what the right hon. Gentleman says. The issue is whether actual payments are made, but we questioned the noble Lord Hendy in the Transport Committee on this matter, and he agreed that there needs to be some data accountability where there are delays. I am sorry to detain the Commit…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. As in previous sessions, I draw the Committee’s attention to my membership of Unite the union. I will speak briefly on the amendments. I welcome the opportunity to talk about an area of narrowly gauged interest of long-standing, although I hesitate to call i…”

“I am thinking about the hon. Member’s arguments about clause 64(3). Does she not think that there may be circumstances where higher charges actually help to get private investment into the railways? For example, GBR could agree to fund infrastructure improvements in exchange for an operator paying higher access charges…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and I congratulate him on securing this important debate. I wish to draw the House’s attention to my chairship of the GMB parliamentary group and my membership of UNITE the Union, both of which organise workers in the construction sector. Quality of employment is extremely importa…”

“Does the Minister agree that there is a comparison with the disabled persons railcard, the criteria for which have been significantly expanded? That change is due to be implemented over the coming months, and that has been possible only because there was not a restrictive statutory definition in primary legislation. Ou…”

“Would the shadow Minister follow the logic of his argument as far as to say that the Conservative Government that passed the Railways Act 1993 were ideologically motivated and acted in an ideological manner, given that that Act barred the public sector from taking on franchises?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I am not sure that I follow the logic of the hon. Gentleman’s argument. Our job here is to look at the network and the service as a whole. This is an integrated, engineering, safety-critical industry of many parts, all of which interact with one another. This is a key point, and we have said it before: sometimes, hard …”

“Much of the investment that has been channelled through the private sector since privatisation has in fact been underwritten by the state, and by Government guarantees. I will not put her on the spot to list specific examples but it would be helpful if Opposition Members could give examples of an at-risk capital invest…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I will speak briefly and specifically on the attempt to introduce a passenger growth target. I think we have had the substantive discussion before, but it is worth briefly repeating the key points. The railway, arguably, is already incentivised to prioritise…”

“The Transport Act 1981, which privatised British Rail’s ferry operations, including the Sea Link service to the Isle of Wight, contained no passenger interest provisions of the type contained in this Bill. Does the hon. Member agree that such an omission was an oversight and an historical missed opportunity?”

“Could the shadow Minister advise me whether there is anything in his amendments or new clause that would exclude foreign state-owned railway enterprises from that definition of “private sector”?”

“You have mentioned some examples of international best practice and where it has been done well. Are there any other examples that you wish to bring to our attention?”

“On bigger trials, what would an appropriate geography be for such an experiment in buses, in your view?”