Transport for the North

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Thursday 18th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I am not sure that that was the previous government policy. The strategy which has been set out is out for consultation, and Transport for the North will be speaking to people across the north to develop and finalise it. We will see the final plan in the summer and respond to it then. On the noble Lord’s point about it focusing on specific cities, it actually suggests strategic development corridors that cover the whole of the north and the central Pennines area, which I know will interest the noble Lord. I encourage everybody to contribute to that consultation.

[Lord Geddes (Con)]

Will my noble friend update the House on the progress being made on the improvements to the A1 between Newcastle and Berwick?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the strategic road between London and Newcastle will be upgraded to a full motorway by the end of the year, but I am aware that there are still issues north of Newcastle on the way up to Scotland. As I mentioned before, one of the strategic development corridors includes the east coast of Scotland and will be looking at exactly this project. I am aware that it may be some months before we see the final plan, and I will certainly see if we can take action quicker.

Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing Bill

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 11th October 2017 Grand Committee

[Lord Callanan]

I again endorse the purpose of the amendments because carefully crafting policies and the regulatory framework is the key to good governance. The Government have no plans to change the current Air Travel Trust deed. The rationale behind this clause responds to the travel sector’s view. In the light of responses to our consultation last year, the Government are proposing to take the power to establish additional trusts to give them the flexibility to make separate provision—

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Geddes) (Con)]

I hate to interrupt the Minister, but a Division has been called in the Chamber. The Committee stands adjourned until 5.15 pm.

Transport: Disabled Parking in London

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Thursday 27th April 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Baroness is right to raise this. The number of prosecutions is still low compared to the reports that are received, partly because of the need to produce evidence. I was involved in local government for 10 years and had responsibility at a local level for this. Part of it is education: a lot of people sometimes park inadvertently and think it is okay for a few minutes. The other, more serious, issue is the blatant abuse of parking places by fraudulent blue badge holders, an area where there also needs to be greater education. The roadshows, which are sharing best practice, will help to address the issue of enforcement more effectively.

[Lord Geddes (Con)]

Can my noble friend advise the House how often checks are made of the abuse of blue badges?

Shipping: Safety

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble and gallant Lord is right to raise this issue. My understanding is that work has been done to ensure the survivability of ships for a longer time and that, if an evacuation is necessary, it can be conducted. In the case of the “Costa Concordia”, the ship was stable for up to an hour. Had the crew and captain been equipped in an appropriate manner, perhaps more lives could have been saved. Another area that we are looking at is the stability of ships, to allow them to return to port safely without the need for evacuation. The noble and gallant Lord asked how the two organisations were working together. I shall write to him on that.

[Lord Geddes (Con)]

My Lords, has consideration been given to a minimum thickness of hull for these vast cruise ships, particularly those going to Antarctica?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

Again, given the technical nature of that question, I will write to my noble friend. I assure him that on all types of ships, including the roll-on, roll-off ferries widely used by the travelling public, the issue of safety is extremely important. It is important to consider the nature, building and construction of ships—but, as we have said, we must also inform the travelling public on safety procedures and ensure that the crew, too, is well informed.

High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords & Committee: 1st sitting: House of Lords & Report stage: House of Lords
Tuesday 10th January 2017 Grand Committee

Relevant document: 7th Report from the Delegated Powers Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Geddes) (Con)]

My Lords, it is now 3.30 pm and, as is usual at this time, I must advise the Grand Committee that if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung—or as soon as your Chairman sees that they are being rung—and resume after 10 minutes.

Clause 1: Power to construct and maintain works for Phase One of High Speed 2

Amendment 1

Moved by

Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) (Downloading of Data) Regulations 2015

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2015 Grand Committee

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, I shall start by responding to the questions asked about the consultation—there may be some that I cannot cover because I do not have sufficient information at the moment, in which case we will be glad to write. The respondents were hauliers, Unite, traffic commissioners, ACPO, the police and tachograph analysis companies. That is quite a wide range across the industry.

The noble Lord asked about the DVSA. Obviously, we followed up its response to the consultation, and from those discussions our understanding is that it believes its enforcement powers, which enable it to access this information at any time, are the important measure which supports its enforcement activity. Therefore we are comfortable that we are not creating additional problems here for the DVSA. Indeed, the noble Lord will know—and this goes back to the whole question of safety which he discussed—that, increasingly, the whole approach to enforcement has been intelligence-led. That has always been true, but it has become even more so. He will be aware of the London task force, which I believe started its work in October 2013. That is a combined effort by the DVSA, Transport for London, the department and the Met to use a targeted approach, and it has been very successful in London by, again, using intelligence, so that the knowledge of the operators to helps drive the enforcement process, rather than simply using a random process which might have been more prevalent in the past.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Geddes) (Con)]

A Division has been called in the Chamber. The Grand Committee stands adjourned.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees]

All Members are now present. I rudely interrupted the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, in mid-flow—I beg your pardon, the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, was speaking.

Infrastructure Bill [HL]

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2014 Grand Committee

Relevant documents: 2nd Report from the Delegated Powers Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Geddes) (Con)]

My Lords, as is usual on such occasions, I must advise the Grand Committee that if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting, the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung and will resume after 10 minutes.

Clause 13: Transfer of additional functions

Amendment 32

Moved by

Transport: Bus Services

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Monday 20th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Countess makes a good point, but it is of course up to the operator to select the most suitable bus for its operations. It is a purely operational matter.

[Lord Geddes]

My Lords, has any further consideration been given to moving the central coach station out from Victoria?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, unfortunately that is a matter for the Mayor of London.

Olympic Games 2012: Traffic

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, when I last answered a Question about the Olympic travel arrangements, I used the Get Ahead of the Games website, and it worked. Sometimes these websites take a little bit of getting used to. I urge noble Lords to persist with it. It is a very good tool, particularly to see which Tube stations will be very heavily congested, and at which times.

[Lord Geddes]

Could my noble friend confirm, or otherwise, that while the House is sitting, Members of the House may use the Olympic lanes when coming to and from the House?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I suggest that that is an extremely unwise course of action. The policing of the Olympic lanes—the Games lanes—is similar to bus lanes. If the noble Lord thinks he can use a bus lane with impunity then he can try the Olympic lanes, but it is not something that I would recommend.

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [HL]

Lord Geddes Excerpts

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Grand Committee

[Lord Grantchester]

I rise to propose Amendment 5. Far be it from me to come between my two noble friends on Amendment 4, but I reflect that although there may be very little between them, there is a slight implication for some of the processes in the Bill. I would be interested to hear the Minister’s response to this question.

In proposing Amendment 5, we have approached it from the—

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Geddes)]

With great respect to the noble Lord, I think he means that he is speaking to Amendment 5, not proposing it.

[Lord Grantchester]

Sorry, speaking to Amendment 5—moving Amendment 5.

[Lord Geddes]

No, speaking to Amendment 5.

[Lord Grantchester]

I thank the Deputy Chairman for clarifying that. We have approached it in a simple, straightforward way: that this is, in fact, the role of a regulator. As we have argued and discussed on previous amendments, the role of the regulator is a high-profile one at the moment, with a wide range of powers to effect change in the UK groceries market. It is only appropriate that the Secretary of State should consult with both the relevant Select Committees in the other place to reflect the standing that such a person will have in the business and parliamentary world, so that it is fully transparent to the supply chain that this has been well considered.