Beaumont Carol: Infrastructure Bill — In Committee 
Beaumont Carol: Infrastructure Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12510] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 Likewise I rise to speak on Part 2. The thing that is very interesting about this part—and I am sure that people have been riveted so far on this discussion on the Infrastructure Bill—is that Part 2 amends a number of different Acts. During the course of the considerations of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee it was very interesting to analyse the differences between the Acts concerned which are of course the Telecommunications Act 2001 the Electricity Act 1992 the Gas Act 1992 and the Local Government Act 1974. 
The consistency we were looking at was around reasonable access to transport corridors. I have to say I did not know a great deal about this issue at the start but it became very clear just how important those corridors are in terms of ensuring we can install the suitable services—gas electricity broadband—we will need to grow the economy and serve the people of this country. So consistency around reasonable access to transport corridors is important. 
Consistency and clarification around allocations of costs are important when utility operators are required to move assets which of course they can be required to do in these circumstances. Also consistency around issues like time periods for notification and response is important. In addition as the previous speaker my colleague Darien Fenton has just said Part 2 amends the Railways Act 2005. The Government Roading Powers Act 1989 is also mentioned again in terms of providing time frames for responding to requests for access to rail corridors and motorways and requiring controlling authorities to publish criteria on which they will base their decisions to grant access. 
So Part 2 contains a series of provisions around each of those Acts looking at issues like the criteria for setting reasonable conditions. Mr Hughes referred to the issue about whether the operator will be required to increase the amenity values rather than merely maintain them. One thing that was quite interesting in the select committee was a debate around the term “fittings” and whether we would use that term. Members will be interested to know that the committee decided not to go with the term “fittings” and replaced it with “lines cabinets other appliances and associated equipment”. 
The question that Ms Fenton raised about health and safety is important and in relation to the rail corridor the select committee had a very interesting conversation. One cannot move trains around a bit of work that is going on to ensure that they are out of the way while work is being undertaken whereas with a road one can use detours and those sorts of things. We had a good robust conversation about the health and safety component. 
In that respect I would be lax if I did not also refer to a number of the changes that are going on led by the Prime Minister in the workplace area. We are under real threat through the sort of negative cost-cutting approach that this Government is taking where workers’ rights are being undermined. There is a real risk that health and safety will be compromised for workers in this country. Let me give members an example of how that might be the case. With the extension of the 90-day “no rights at work” trial to all workplaces people will be unwilling to even raise questions of health and safety for fear that they may be sacked. 
I go back to the criteria for setting reasonable conditions. The sorts of factors that are included in those reasonable conditions in Part 2 are around the safe and efficient flow of traffic the health and safety of the people likely to be affected directly by the work the need to lessen damage and compensation that may be payable. An important measure in new section 24A(1)(e) in clause 30 is the criteria around the need to lessen disruption to local communities including businesses. It is really important when we are looking at this kind of work and upgrading our infrastructure that we do it in a way that minimises disruption to the community. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I ask that the level of discussion on my right be kept at a lower level. It is quite distracting.