My Lords, I have put my name to Amendments 92 and 98 but, in truth, I could have put it to every single amendment in this group. The amendments in my name, however, are designed to demonstrate the fundamental importance of transport functions to the effectiveness of the CCAs. The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, has outlined that very comprehensively and ably.
I subscribe to the view that bigger is not necessarily better in many examples of local government, but it is undoubtedly the case that larger local authorities give you the opportunity to plan strategically for public transport and, indeed, for every strand of transport. Without powers to provide a comprehensive and strategic approach to transport, CCAs will be asked to deliver their job with one hand tied behind their backs. They will not be able to do the levelling-up job in any meaningful way.
This series of amendments asks vital questions about the powers over transport infrastructure. Powers without funding are meaningless as a tool for levelling up. The amendments also address the issue of sustainability. That is important in relation to transport, which is responsible for about one-third of our emissions.
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Amendment 92 addresses the vagueness of how CCA powers will be awarded and exactly how they will be exercised and by whom. We had this issue in the previous group of amendments in another context. Once again, the Government seem determined to keep hold of all the cards and to surround their decisions with an air of mystique. That is a very centralised approach to decentralisation, a very opaque approach to transparency and a very London-centric approach to levelling up, and, as it stands, it will not work, so it is right to ask for answers and for greater accountability.
Without a transport revolution outside London—I use the word “revolution” deliberately—levelling up will not work. Week after week in this Chamber, we discuss the latest failures of bus and train services in the north of England. In response, the Government usually list some impressive-sounding numbers on transport initiatives, mostly based on funds that local authorities have to bid for—for example, to improve bus services. That of course overlooks the fact that you need to have a bus service to start with in order to improve it. It also overlooks the fact that the least able local authorities and organisations are not in a position to make successful bids, and increasingly they do not even bother to try.
I cannot speak on this issue without referring to last year’s news about two-year delays and fundamental questions over the future of HS2. That proves that this
Government are tone-deaf about the significance of that project. It is the key to unlocking the private and public sector investment that must be made if levelling up is to have any meaning at all. The fact that there is now serious doubt over the project is one of the greatest failures of this increasingly muddled and confused Government.