argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Social Welfare
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): I am glad that the Minister has managed to spare some time out of the 90 or so minutes that remain. I raised the issue of the care cap, to which he has not responded at all. It will cost £1 billion to bring in the nil-rate band on inheritance tax. The Minister talked about childcare, but he has not touched on that particular point. [Interruption.]
Speed limit and traffic calming on Monmouth Road in Walsall — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Valerie Carol Marian Vaz (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The petition, which has been signed by 223 people, states: The petition of residents of the UK, Declares that there is currently a 30mph speed limit on Monmouth Road, Bentley, Walsall, where there is a primary school and the entrance to a playing field. The playing field entrance is in constant use by dog walkers, families and the football clubs. Many vehicles travel at excessive speeds. There is a risk of serious incident if measures are not put in place to reduce the speed of vehicles using Monmouth Road The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council to implement a 20mph speed limit and traffic calming measures on Monmouth Road, Bentley, Walsall And the Petitioners remain, etc [P001537]
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): As well as being a Tameside colleague, I am a Stockport Member of Parliament. My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the need for orbital public transport around Greater Manchester. On existing infrastructure, he will know that there is a very under-used line between Stockport and Stalybridge, which serves Reddish South and Denton stations, with one train a week in one direction only. Is that not precisely the infrastructure that could be utilised to bring about the orbital service to which he refers?
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): It absolutely is. It seems absurd, given the cost of creating new rail capacity, to have a line that is not utilised, when the reason it was not originally closed but turned into what is called a parliamentary service no longer applies, because transport patterns have changed so much. When we consider the bus links between Tameside and Stockport, with less than one bus an hour in some parts of my constituency, it does seem absurd. In putting forward this case, I want people to recognise the crucial point that, primarily due to the completion of the M60 motorway, people now choose more than ever before to live and work in different parts of Greater Manchester. Our public transport network needs to reflect that change in travel patterns. Many boroughs, including Tameside, are very keen to see an orbital expansion of the Metrolink network to connect key town centres, and to see it extended to Manchester airport, with the huge potential for jobs and growth that could bring. I would love to see Metrolink extended to run from Stockport town centre, through to Denton and Hyde, and then on to Ashton to create a genuine circle line for south and east Manchester Metrolink is wholly operated by Transport for Greater Manchester, but central Government have always been instrumental in supporting it, including when it comes to expansion, so I would be interested to know the Minister’s thoughts on whether this Government would support further Metrolink expansion—perhaps using Government funds to match the retained revenue from the increase in business rates that might occur through expansion.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): There will be profound disappointment among my constituents, who have suffered the installation—or part-installation—of the Leigh guided busway, which is a gross mistake. We should have had Metrolink built. Guided busway schemes are expensive, and that one should never have been installed.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I know that my hon. Friend feels strongly about that. The expansion of Metrolink could certainly fulfil such a need I want to go on to the subject of buses. Journeys by bus within Greater Manchester remain the predominant form of public transport used, with over 210 million journeys last year, but bus patronage continues to flatline, as opposed to what we have seen in London, where it has vastly increased. Transport for Greater Manchester recognises that that is an issue, and the preferred answer seems to be much further transport devolution I am very much in favour of bus regulation, similar to that in London. I know that Transport for Greater Manchester, too, is keen to explore the benefits of bus franchising in order to properly integrate and co-ordinate the public transport network so as to secure the growth in bus usage that has been lacking in recent years. A model such as the London one would mean a simpler single identity and a set of easier multi-modal fares and tickets across Greater Manchester as passengers’ travel patterns change. A good recent example of why this is necessary is surely the Healthier Together hospital reorganisation initiative, which shows that there is a crucial need for local transport authorities to be able to plan bus services and not be at the whim of timetables that do not always suit passengers’ requirements. We also need to be able to guarantee transport services in order to better provide other public services Of course, the true test of a region’s public transport success is whether it manages to decrease the number of car journeys taken—something that Greater Manchester has not yet achieved. The benefits of this are obvious, not least in terms of emissions and air quality, about which, as the shadow climate change Minister, I care a great deal. We should want people to get out of their cars and on to public transport, both for leisure and for commuting purposes. Greater Manchester did attempt this in a rather crude way with a proposal to bring in a London-style congestion charge back in 2008. The proposal was put to the people of Greater Manchester, and to say that it was overwhelmingly rejected would be an understatement, with 79% of votes cast being against bringing it in. I always smile when we talk about the Scottish independence referendum and it is suggested that it is difficult to make the case for voting no. That was not our experience in Greater Manchester with the congestion charge proposal That shows the scale of the challenge faced. One of the reasons why so many people were against bringing in that congestion charge was that they felt that the public transport infrastructure was not adequate for them to feel confident enough to ditch their cars. There is an argument that this was a chicken and egg scenario, and that public transport would be sufficiently improved if the demand existed, but that the demand would never materialise while the public transport infrastructure was not deemed adequate.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend will be aware that there are difficulties with the capacity and the reach of bus services, and that in recent weeks we have seen the withdrawal of night bus services. Does he agree that our strategy should be a 24-hour transport strategy for a 24-hour city?
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): Absolutely. I look enviously at the night tube proposal for London. In big cities, so much of the offer within the evening economy is attractive, yet for people who live in my constituency, which is a relatively short distance from Manchester city centre, access is severely limited. The trains do not run and night buses are infrequent and under threat, so it is a huge issue If the investment is put into the public transport infrastructure, people will be more than willing to use it if it meets their needs. The benefits to the area, to the economy and to people’s health should not be understated. We often hear a great deal about London in terms of health and life expectancy because of the pollution issues, but those problems are seen in Greater Manchester too. Progress has been good, with improvements year on year in the number of non-car journeys, and I know that Transport for Greater Manchester is committed to further improvement. I also believe that there is huge potential in cities for the expansion of electric car use. I recently tested our electric car charging infrastructure in Greater Manchester, but I will leave that for another Adjournment debate An improved public transport system in Greater Manchester is vital to the region’s economic growth and to the success of "devo-Manc" and the northern powerhouse initiative, as I am sure the Minister would agree. A fully integrated transport network including all modes of public transport is key to this, and can be achieved only by devolving further powers to the region. In particular, I believe public transport should be one of the directly elected Mayor of Manchester’s key areas of responsibility, much as it is in London I hope that in his reply the Minister will be full of warm words for Greater Manchester and for the northern powerhouse, and feel able to express his agreement with a lot of what I have said regarding what Greater Manchester needs. What I want most from him, however, are not just words, but a firm commitment that the Government recognise the need in Greater Manchester, and that powers and access to funding will be forthcoming in order to allow us to fulfil that need. One thing that can always be said of us in Greater Manchester is that if we are given the tools we will always do the job.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): I wish to make only a small number of points, because my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) made an excellent speech and most of us from the area would agree with almost everything—if not everything—he said. As an MP representing Salford, Worsley and Eccles South, I wish to talk briefly about the knock-on effect that this delay in rail electrification is having on planned upgrades affecting local rail services. We were in a ridiculous situation over the winter. As a result of rail electrification, we faced greatly increased congestion and delays while a bridge was rebuilt just off the A6 in Salford. It caused problems and tailbacks for commuters. We went through weeks and months of delays on the roads so that a bridge could be rebuilt for a project that has now been delayed. That sort of thing makes people really angry. All we have now are the delays and uncertainty Excellent work is being done by the Friends of Eccles Station, the Friends of Patricroft Station and the Friends of Walkden Station, which are dedicated friends groups in my constituency. They do award-winning work, brightening up the stations with flower planting, gardening, murals and other artwork, but they do not want just to make the stations better; they want better rail services too. They do not only talk to me about the wonderful work that they are doing to make commuting easier for people. They are as aware as I am that, for example, 70 to 80 people are left on the platform at Walkden station at peak times in the morning because we do not have the rolling stock and they cannot get on the trains. Those groups are all committed to improving our rail services. They want more services to stop at the stations on the way into Manchester, more and better carriages, and improved, up-to-date rolling stock. The promise—the tantalising, faraway thing—was that rail electrification would have a knock-on effect, and that rolling stock would become available for our local rail services. What we now have is uncertainty and delay. Those excellent groups, which do all that work in trying to get that modal shift, are profoundly disappointed Junction 13 of the M60 is one of the most congested anywhere in the country. Transport Ministers are looking at the string of motorways—the M60, M62 and M602— that span around my constituency to try to do something about the congestion, given that we do not have the congestion charge, thank goodness. But there is no improvement in sight. We cannot shift people on to rail, because there is no capacity, so we have truly faced the northern power cut to which our excellent Manchester Evening News has referred—and all the while congestion is building up. I implore the Minister to think of all those wonderful campaigning groups and the wonderful work they do in trying to improve our rail services, and tell us what hope we can give them that all their work is not in vain and that some improvement is in the distance.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), who is not here, I want to mention the importance of keeping such urban rail lines open. Leigh must be one of the last places in the country that has no railway and no stations at all. I am sure that he would have added to this debate if he had been here. It is vital to keep such lines open.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Apart from Denton and Reddish South, which do have rail lines and stations, Leigh is probably the poorest served community by rail in Greater Manchester Lastly, I want to mention integration. It is all fine and well having great rail services and Metrolink services; possibly one day even having tram-train services, with trams using some of the under-utilised rail infrastructure across Greater Manchester, thereby reducing the capital investment that new tram lines cost the taxpayer; and having improved bus services when we have a properly franchised, re-regulated system, but none of that is any good to my constituents unless there is joined-up transport planning and integration The Chancellor announced in the Budget that the northern powerhouse is to secure an Oyster-style card that may, by the sounds of it, be used across the whole of the Northern franchise. That is an important step forward, although I am not sure that we want to be using state-of-the-art technology on 1980s, clapped-out Pacer trains, so I hope that the Minister will answer the questions from my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton on the timing of the upgrades and the introduction of the new rolling stock in Greater Manchester My one desire is that we end up with a transport system like that in London. Ten years ago when I first became a Member of Parliament, I could not believe it when London MPs complained about the state of public transport in the capital city. If I decided to start a journey on one mode of transport in Greater Manchester—tram, for example—and then connect to a train and finish my journey by bus, as someone can in London with an Oyster card where the services join up, people in Greater Manchester would have thought I was bonkers. The services do not join up, and that is the problem. Someone would be left stranded on some station in the middle of the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde, without the opportunity to get a return ticket.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend makes a fine point. We have probably all had the experience of standing at Stockport station, perhaps on the way home, and working out that it is quicker to get back to London than to a place such as Stalybridge on public transport. That really illustrates the point.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right. It is frustrating because someone can be so near to home, yet so far when they look at that board at Stockport station and realise that they have to wait for such a long time to get a connecting service to somewhere relatively close I know that Ministers are in the process of devolving powers to the mayor and the combined authority, which is right. We believe in devolution, and we know that our elected representatives in Greater Manchester have the capacity to take on those new powers, and to plan and prepare for a better transport system. We also need help and understanding from the Department for Transport, because where the transport system in Greater Manchester is today is not where we wish it to be. To get it to where we want it to be will require not only local leadership, direction and commitment, but also that same level of commitment and resources to flow from central Government I urge the Minister to answer the points that my hon. Friends have raised about electrification and orbital transport, and also, please, to give us some hope that this pause will not be for long. We desperately need a better transport system in all parts of Greater Manchester.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): The uncertainty is twofold. I mentioned the excellent friends groups. The Minister should take them into account in terms of the expansion of passenger numbers, because they do a great job in letting people know about rail services. They are constantly frustrated by Network Rail, because it has not been willing to talk to them or to consider timetable changes. Nothing moves for them in terms of getting the better services through these stations. If there is to be a report, these local aspects of our urban services really need to be looked at, too.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for mentioning HS2, of which many in the Chamber are firm supporters in the light of what it will bring to Greater Manchester. I say to him, however, that because a project of that size has a high price tag, it often arouses public cynicism about whether it is worth the money. It would be a grave problem as regards public opinion in Greater Manchester if the work was seen to proceed without trans-Pennine electrification being reinstated and a clear date being set for completion. From representations I have had, I think that could be a significant problem. I wanted to highlight that to him in good faith because I think he will appreciate the point I am making.
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): I understand that the Minister is taking a very positive outlook in his speech, but I should tell him that the M60 smart motorway roadworks are an out-and-out disaster, causing my constituents and many others to be kept awake at weekends and leading to great delays. I am happy to seek an Adjournment debate to tell him about it at much greater length, but we have got two years of torment ahead of us, so please can he not adopt such an optimistic outlook?
Public Transport (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister therefore accept my invitation to come along and tour the bit of the M60 motorway that goes through my constituency—we have three motorways in my constituency; I am really lucky—so that I can show him the extent of the disruption and the problems caused for my constituents? I would be happy to do that.
Hedgehogs — House of Commons, 2015-09-10
Topic: Environment
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I hope the Minister is aware that there is some black propaganda being put around about badgers and hedgehogs. In respect of the badger cull, I have always believed that we should use science and good research methods to find out what is going on. There has been a dramatic fall in the population of a much-loved species which is very important to our countryside. May we have the science on this, not some black propaganda blaming badgers?
Broadband (Rural Areas) — House of Commons, 2015-09-10
Topic: Technology
John Woodcock (Labour, Centre-left): That is all very well, but the Minister must understand what is happening in places such as Cumbria, where people are being told on the one hand that their properties do not meet the commercial criteria for BT to go in, and on the other hand that Connecting Cumbria, the body set up to roll out rural broadband, does not have the funds available. These people do not care where their fast broadband is to come from, but they want to know that the Government are going to get a grip, so will the right hon. Lady work with the Culture Secretary to address this problem urgently and give some hope to my constituents?
Broadband (Rural Areas) — House of Commons, 2015-09-10
Topic: Technology
Questions: Residents in the rural parts of my constituency, such as Affetside and Holcolme, which after all are just a few miles from Manchester city centre, are 100% unconnected to superfast broadband. Some of them are trying to run small businesses, and for them it is cold comfort to know that nearly everyone else has a good internet connection. I urge my right hon. Friend to ask her colleagues across Government to ensure that superfast broadband is rolled out to rural areas, especially those near big cities.
Maria Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): A recent study by the Oxford Internet Institute has shown a growing gap in broadband access between urban and rural communities, with 1.3 million people in rural Britain being excluded from high-speed broadband and a further 9.2 million having a poor connection. Will the Secretary of State tell the House by what date superfast broadband coverage will be universal?
Broadband (Rural Areas) — House of Commons, 2015-09-10
Topic: Technology
Questions: Residents in the rural parts of my constituency, such as Affetside and Holcolme, which after all are just a few miles from Manchester city centre, are 100% unconnected to superfast broadband. Some of them are trying to run small businesses, and for them it is cold comfort to know that nearly everyone else has a good internet connection. I urge my right hon. Friend to ask her colleagues across Government to ensure that superfast broadband is rolled out to rural areas, especially those near big cities.
Maria Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I do not think that is good enough. The Secretary of State is letting the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and BT get away with a super-slow broadband roll-out in our remote rural areas. It seems she is too busy trying to bring back foxhunting, letting down our dairy farmers and allowing culling and pesticides to destroy our wildlife to do her job of championing rural areas across Government. When will she start punching her weight across the Cabinet table and get an end date for the superfast broadband roll-out? Until she does, remote rural areas will increasingly be put at a great economic disadvantage.
Food Waste — House of Commons, 2015-09-10
Topic: Agriculture
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for the interest he has so far shown in my ten-minute rule Bill. Under previous Courtauld commitments—the first three phases—80% of the reduction in food waste has come from households. There is still the real problem that more than half of food waste is in the supply chain. Does the Minister agree that we should leave it not to the voluntary action of food companies, but place a legal requirement on them to help us meet the target of halving food waste?