Lords Hansard text for 30 Apr 200730 Apr 2007 (pt 0011)

Schedule 12, page 103, line 6, leave out from “in” to end of line 8 and insert “each of the following provisions is to be read as a reference to 6 months—

30 Apr 2007 : Column 934

(a) section 32D(8)(b) of the Audit Commission Act 1998 (c. 18) (as inserted by paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to this Act);(b) section 64D(8)(b) of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 (c. 23) (as inserted by paragraph 4 of that Schedule).”

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Schedule 13 [Repeals and revocations]:

Lord Bassam of Brighton moved Amendments Nos. 130 to 132:

Schedule 13, page 103, line 19, at end insert—

“Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (c. 43)	Section 32(1)(b).
	Section 45.
	In Schedule 1, paragraph 35.”

Schedule 13, page 103, line 27, at end insert—

“Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (S.I. 1981/1675 (N.I. 26))

Article 60(1).”

Schedule 13, page 103, line 34, at end insert—

“Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64)	In section 12(10), the words from “notwithstanding” to the end.
	In section 13(13), the words from “notwithstanding” to the end.
	In section 14(10), the words from “notwithstanding” to the end.
	In section 14B(7), the words from “notwithstanding” to the end.

On Question, amendments agreed to.

Lord Bassam of Brighton moved Amendment No. 133:

Schedule 13, page 109, line 14, at end insert—

“Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (c. 36)

In Schedule 7, paragraph 38.”

The noble Lord said: My Lords, Amendment No. 133 repeals a provision in the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 but amends a provision in the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. The Serious Crime Bill will repeal that provision in the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 as a result of the changes being made to the HMRC provisions in the Bill. As a result, that provision in the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 is, of course, no longer necessary. These are minor and technical amendments. I beg to move.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Clause 80 [Extent]:

Lord Bassam of Brighton moved Amendments Nos. 134 to 138:

Clause 80, page 43, line 15, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert—

“(a) section 70(1) and (2); and(b) Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 6 and section 65 so far as relating to those Parts.”

Clause 80, page 43, line 22, leave out “section 55” and insert “sections (Amendments relating to service law) and 55, Schedule (Amendments relating to service law)”

30 Apr 2007 : Column 935

Clause 80, page 43, line 33, leave out subsection (4) and insert—

“(4) The following provisions extend to Northern Ireland only—

(a) section 70(3) and (4); and(b) Part 3 of Schedule 6 and section 65 so far as relating to that Part.”

Clause 80, page 43, line 34, leave out subsection (5) and insert—

“(5) Any provision of section 55 or Part 2 of Schedule 5 (and any corresponding entry in Schedule 13) has the same extent as the enactment amended, repealed or revoked by it except that—

(a) it does not extend to Scotland; and(b) paragraph 41A of Schedule 5 does not extend to Northern Ireland.”

Clause 80, page 43, line 38, after “Schedule” insert “(Amendments relating to service law),”

On Question, amendments agreed to.

Clause 81 [Commencement]:

[Amendments Nos. 139 and 140 not moved.]

Economy: Yorkshire and Humber

6.42 pm

Lord Woolmer of Leeds asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of the Yorkshire and Humber region to the United Kingdom economy.

The noble Lord said: My Lords, this debate was stimulated by the formation recently of an All-Party Peers Group for Yorkshire and Humber. Issues and priorities often look different across different parts of the United Kingdom and the group is seeking to connect the House better to those in our region. I thank all the people and organisations who have sent us briefing material for today’s debate. It is deeply appreciated across the House. I must apologise on behalf of the many noble Lords who are not able to be here this evening, but who are staunch Yorkshire folk.

Yorkshire and Humber is a large region of 5 million people. It has a population similar to that of Scotland, larger than that of Northern Ireland and Wales and larger even than that of seven of the 25 member states of the European Union. While output per head in the region is below that of the national average, growth in output has been above the UK and European Union average for years now. The past 20 years have seen a transformation in the region. Previous dependence on textiles, clothing, coal mining, heavy industry, agriculture and fishing has been replaced by a diversified and vigorous economy. Advanced manufacturing remains significant and is predicted to grow by 12 per cent over the next decade. We have the country’s largest concentration of food research and production, one of the fastest growing IT media and communications sectors in the UK and Leeds has the largest financial, legal and business services centre outside London.

Hull and the Humber ports handle 22 per cent of England’s sea freight trade, with 40,000 international shipping movements per year. Eighteen per cent of the country’s electricity is generated in the region.

30 Apr 2007 : Column 936

Tourism is a regional strength too. National parks in the Yorkshire Dales, the North Yorkshire Moors and a small part of the Peak District comprise over 1,000 square miles in the region, or 21 per cent of the land area. In addition, the Yorkshire Wolds and other areas of outstanding beauty, stately homes, abbeys, priories, castles, York and the Bront�" country all add to the tourist attraction. A recent study by the Council for National Parks found that the region’s national parks did not just benefit tourists. Businesses in the parks and in nearby towns generate approaching £2 billion worth of sales a year, supporting 34,000 jobs.

The Yorkshire and Humber region is around 20 per cent urban and 80 per cent rural. Three of the largest UK cities are in the region: Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. Then there are at least 25 other important towns and cities which you dare not forget, ranging from Hull to Halifax, Richmond to Grimsby, Barnsley to Bridlington, not to mention Wakefield, Beverley, Harrogate and York.

What is striking about our region is that there is no massive urban sprawl. Our cities and towns are free-standing, with civic pride and loyalties and with beautiful countryside or coastal areas easily accessible. Yorkshire Forward was right to identify the need to ensure a vigorous future for our towns and cities, small or large, in its renaissance investment programme.

Although our towns and cities are free-standing, they are increasingly inter-connected, as mobile people and mobile flexible skills integrate the regional labour market. I was pleased to note the move towards co-operation based on three city regions centred on Leeds, Sheffield and Hull and the Humber ports. These are the driving forces of sub-regional and regional growth and will pose new challenges for our civic and business leaders. At the same time, the rural areas in upper and eastern North Yorkshire must be properly served too.

Culture plays a big part in the region. Opera North, Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance and the West Yorkshire Playhouse are all based in Leeds. Alan Ayckbourn premières in Scarborough, and Sheffield hosts one of the UK’s leading digital arts festivals. The International Indian Film Academy is holding the Bollywood equivalent of the Oscars in Yorkshire in June with 28,000 visitors expected into the region. The region is to be congratulated on securing this. Among other things, the National Media Museum in Bradford will host some key events, as will other towns and cities across the region.

Yorkshire and Humber has eight universities, three higher education colleges and 42 further education colleges. York, Sheffield and Leeds universities have formed the White Rose Consortium with more research staff than Oxford or Cambridge working in departments graded at the highest levels, and the region’s universities are leaders across the country in creating spin-out companies. The universities of Leeds and Sheffield have recently received national funding for an international centre of excellence on China and Japan, with the National Institute of

30 Apr 2007 : Column 937

Chinese Studies at Leeds and of Japanese Studies at Sheffield. I declare an interest, having recently been appointed to the international advisory board of that centre.

I have touched on some of the positives in the region, so perhaps I might just touch on some areas where improvement or comment might be needed. Transport spending remains firmly at the top of the region’s agenda for business as well as for local government and the regional development agency. Transport is creaking in the region. The M62 is overloaded, as are parts of the M1/A1—the north-south and east-west arteries. The railways are near or at capacity for passengers and freight on key routes. Transport links between Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester—a crucial triumvirate, a triangle of energy and growth for the future of this country—need to be greatly improved. Leeds and, I argue, the Leeds/Bradford conurbation need a rapid transit public transport system for the 21st century. Successive governments have ducked the issue for 20 years.

The second area is skills. Those over 16 perform below average at GCSE, and the adult workforce is below national averages at higher level 4 skills. In parts of the region, more than a third of adults cannot read, write or count properly. Without wanting to sound harsh, I must say that the learning and skills councils, schools and employers have to raise their game, not just to help economic performance but to ensure that the benefits of growth are shared by all sections of society.

The third area I wish to highlight is tourism. We have a large and diverse region, with national parks and a tourist board. Performance in attracting and bringing back visitors to the region has not been strong. Our tourist industry—at all levels from bed and breakfast to four-star hotels, from bureaucrats in civic halls to tourist boards—has been woeful in the past. There are real signs that the Yorkshire Tourist Board is at last moving in the right direction, with a new sense of focus and vigour. Our national parks are becoming focused on employment of business opportunities as well as, properly, their stewardship of national treasures.

Finally—perhaps more controversially—I will say a word about housing densities. Our region has had very slow population growth in the past, and no growth is forecast for the next 10 or 15 years. Emphasis has rightly been put on brownfield site development as a means of sustainable regeneration, but there is no shortage of land in our region, which is one of our great assets. Yet, I see housing built at densities that are not sustainable, dwellings that will not be fit for purpose in many of our urban areas in 30 years’ time. Some high-density housing is needed for the changing population and household structure, but there is a lack of balance. Even family homes are being built at a density that reflects policies based on land shortages in London and the south-east. The region, to use a colloquial term, is missing a trick as well as failing its citizens. It has failed to build on one of its great strengths—the ability to offer good housing, with plenty of space, in good surroundings.

30 Apr 2007 : Column 938

My plea to the planners and bureaucrats is to have housing and planning priorities suitable for our region, in our region. I want to make it a place where people want to live, invest in and remain.

6.52 pm

Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Woolmer of Leeds, on initiating this debate. He has spent much of his distinguished career in higher education at one end of Yorkshire, at the University of Leeds, latterly as dean of the business school. I, too, declare an interest in the region’s higher education institutions, albeit at the other end of the region, as chancellor of the University of Hull. I am pleased that I no longer have to declare an interest as the sister of the chief executive of the Great North Eastern Railway and can now be unequivocal in my support for Hull trains without any domestic conflict. The noble Lord was right to emphasise the importance of transport to the region.

The region is host to one of the highest concentrations of universities in Europe. That is a key asset which I want to discuss, especially when the universities in Yorkshire and the Humber act as such a potent economic catalyst in the region. This theme was explored in the excellent, well supported debate two weeks ago on the economic contribution made by higher education institutions in Britain. It was almost “standing room only” and was an example of the way in which all are working to integrate universities into the economic activities of different parts of the country.

Let me add some further comments on the state of the economy in Yorkshire and the Humber. Undoubtedly, as the noble Lord said, the region has gone through significant economic changes in the past two or three decades. The old, heavy, secondary industries have declined; the cycle of economic change has often been painful, but the region’s economy has emerged emboldened and now has a much more optimistic air. Manufacturing may not employ the numbers that it once did, but it remains a significant part of the economy, more so than in other regions. It is predicted that the manufacturing sector will grow by over 12 per cent in the next 10 years. The noble Lord referred to the importance of food production; in Hull and Humber is the largest concentration of food industries in the UK, employing around 48,000 people in that sector.

Over the first half of the decade, the economy of Yorkshire and Humber was buoyant, with rates of economic and employment growth outstripping those of the UK as a whole. However, regrettably this performance is unlikely to continue for the next few years. Economic and employment growth rates are forecast to slip behind the UK average, partly due to the fact that manufacturing, which is not performing too well in UK anywhere at the moment, takes up a greater slice of the region’s economic support. Here lies a threat but also, I believe, a significant opportunity. The threat is that without constant innovation the region will fail to prosper in the face of intense global competition, but the opportunity lies at

30 Apr 2007 : Column 939

the heart of my argument, in the crucial role played by universities in leveraging at innovation and facilitating its development and application. As the noble Lord and I stressed, the region is fortunate to have an incredibly strong network of universities.

In Hull, there is a concerted and determined approach to economic regeneration, underpinned by recognition that a collaborative approach is essential. The university plays an integral part. Far beyond the estimated £200 million contribution to the local economy, simply by dint of its presence it helps to analyse and shape regional economic development strategies, identifying and supporting sectors of greatest economic potential—in our case added value manufacturing and logistics, biomedical healthcare and renewable energies. These play to the geographic strengths and economic traditions of the area. The House will be aware, for example, that the Humber ports complex is the UK’s largest in terms of goods handled—around 50 per cent of the UK’s sea freight traffic. The regeneration process in the city of Hull is being led by the Hull city build initiative. The board comprises civic, business and academic leaders. By collaborating, the different sectors can gain the area a competitive edge and lever in more investment, both public and private.

Last year the university’s interaction with the local business community was worth more than £14 million. This is exactly what Richard Lambert—now, splendidly, director-general of the CBI, in which I should declare an interest as a head-hunter involved—urged in his 2004 review of business-university collaboration. Businesses should look to collaborate with universities for research and development programmes. Universities must identify their areas of research strength and actively push for links with business.

I suspect that the noble Lord has been an advocate for many of these policies for many years. What I believe is so exciting is how the policy has been taken to heart by universities across the country, but certainly at Hull. Lambert emphasised that, in almost every case, a business working with a university improves its performance, develops its products better, works smarter and sees an improvement in staff skills. This is especially true in the Yorkshire and Humberside region where less is spent on research and development than in other parts of the country.

Next Section

Back to Table of Contents

Lords Hansard Home Page