| answer text |
<p><ins class="ministerial">Street lighting plays an important role in road safety,
as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. I refer my Hon Friend to the
answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 535-36W, which provides a comprehensive
answer on how there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and places in context the
policy of the last Administration which actively encouraged cuts to street lighting.</ins></p><p>
</p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">Street lighting plays an important role in
road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. There may be
some roads where lights could be dimmed in the very early hours, saving taxpayers’
money. However, this should be a local decision by elected local councillors, reflecting
local circumstances-specially in relation to any concerns about crime. Equally, not
every neighbourhood wants street lighting, as some communities, especially in rural
areas, value dark skies.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">We believe that councils
should listen to the views of their local residents, and then adopt appropriate local
policies based on the neighbourhood, the precise location and the usage of the road/street.
I previously noted that “Manual for Streets” contains some useful guidance on getting
the balance right when providing street lighting, taking into account the different
issues around safety, crime prevention, street clutter and light pollution. Ultimately,
there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and any assessment will depend on local
circumstances and local views.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Notwithstanding,
I would observe that Her Majesty’s Opposition seem to have a short memory about their
actions on cutting street lighting when they were in office:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The
right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) (now Shadow Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government) when Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, his Department and its quangos lectured local councils to switch off
or reduce street lighting to minimise carbon emissions. For example, in 2007, he personally
launched the Carbon Trust Standard, which was tied to an extensive programme to reduce
street lighting as part of the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme. As DEFRA
Ministers told the House:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“All authorities should
be seeking to reduce energy usage both to cut costs and to help combat climate change.
As street lighting accounts for a significant proportion of the energy used by authorities,
it should be readily identified as an area that should be examined for potential efficiency
savings”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(6 November 2006, <em>Official Report</em>,
column 709W).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department for Transport</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">The Minister of State for Transport, the noble Lord Adonis (now
a Shadow Treasury Minister) when asked about reducing the hours of operation of street
lighting, noted that</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“the Government also support
the Carbon Trust’s local authority carbon management programme, which provides councils
with support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings from street
lighting”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(17 December 2008, <em>Official Report</em>,
<em>House of Lords</em>, column WA52). Transport Ministers also endorsed the Highways
Agency’s</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">‘Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting’
which led to switching off motorway lighting at night (21 April 2008,</del></p><p><br
/><del class="ministerial"><em>Official Report, </em>column 1444W; Highways Agency</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">“Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting Midnight Switch Off for
Motorway Lighting”, 2009).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department for
Communities and Local Government</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The
right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) (now Shadow
Home Secretary), when as Minister in the precursor Department to DCLG, noted there
was nuanced debate on the extent of street lighting:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“We
all recognise the fact that there is a series of tensions around light pollution.
People in the cities will never have the same view of the night sky as one can get
in the middle of Dartmoor... There can be tensions too at neighbourhood level between
the security-obsessed householder who has glaring white security lights stuck to every
corner of the house, which flicker on every time a little bird flies past or the cat
runs across the garden, and the neighbour who... has a telescope and cannot see across
the garden, let alone into the skies”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(12 February
2004, <em>Official Report</em>, column 510WH).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department
</em><em>of</em><em> Energy and Climate Change</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">In
2008, the right hon. Member for Leeds East (Hilary Benn) also personally launched
the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which resulted in councils cutting carbon emissions
from street lighting, including dimming or switching off lights. The Highway Agency’s
“Energy Strategy for Roadside Equipment” (April 2010) explained that the approach
of “dimming, trimming and partial night lighting” was a consequence of the requirements
to meet the Carbon Reduction Commitment. As DECC Ministers said to the House:</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">“DECC is working to include street lighting in the Carbon Reduction
Commitment. This will provide an incentive for local authorities to improve the energy
efficiency of street lights. DECC is working closely with Communities and Local Government
to develop the policy, in so far as it relates to local authorities”</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">(19 June 2009, <em>Official Report</em>, column 515W). Of course,
the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change at that time was the right hon.
Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) now Leader of HM Opposition.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">I hope this illuminates the historical fogginess of the Labour
party’s current campaign on municipal street lighting. I would suggest the last person
out of Labour HQ tonight should turn off the lights.</del></p><p> </p>
|
|
