I’m still awaiting a response from the Department for Transport as to whether it is still sold on the privatisation model for the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC), which delay may itself be significant, but in the meantime I have noticed something that brings the delay to the required legislation into sharper focus.
Although inclusion on a King’s Speech doesn’t guarantee that a bill will be in the next session of Parliament, a letter in May from transport secretary Heidi Alexander to Transport Committee chair Ruth Cadbury explicitly said this one would be.
Setting out “the Department for Transport’s legislative agenda for the second Parliamentary session, as set out in the King’s Speech”, Alexander wrote:
The department will also be introducing two new pieces of legislation in the next session.
[…]
Furthermore, our Highways (Financing) Bill will enable a new financing approach to fund large-scale road schemes, supporting the UK Government’s commitment to deliver a modern transport network that helps people get where they need more easily and safely.
So when Lord (Peter) Hendy can only say that the Bill
will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows
that’s a significant backtracking, suggesting either incompetence or a rethink.
Meanwhile, an “independent” review of the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) looks at the expectation that it will be the regulator for the entity that will build and operate the LTC.
(more…)
Transport Insights 