Jim Dickson

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Parliament's party history for this member: Labour (4 Jul 2024 – present).

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1. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (Third sitting)

   Will the hon. Member give way?

   Hansard source
2. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (Third sitting)

   It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. The Minister has made it clear that it is incredibly important that the mechanism we are setting up today not only works to get the lower Thames crossing constructed but integrates the work at the Dartford crossing, so that tolling is equalised and traffic is hopefully distributed properly across both crossings. The lower Thames crossing is there to take the pressure off the Dartford crossing, which is a single point of failure that leads to costs not only for the economy but for my residents in delays, air quality and all sorts of adverse life consequences. Does the hon. Member not understand that, if we limit the Bill to the lower Thames crossing, there is a possibility that we will not be able to undertake the integration between the two entities, and that the point of what we are doing in this Bill Committee will therefore be lost?

   Hansard source
3. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (Third sitting)

   Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

   Hansard source
4. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (Third sitting)

   I hear what the hon. Gentleman is saying, and it is absolutely in the interests of my constituents for tolls to be as low as possible, and therefore for cost to be controlled through the project. However, is he mindful of the evidence that the National Highways executive director for the project, Mr Palmer, gave when the Committee spoke to him on Thursday? He said that the cost of HVO and electric plant together was comparable with that of continuing with diesel, and that in any event, that element of the project cost is extremely marginal to the overall cost of delivering the lower Thames crossing. Attempts to prevent measures that will make the project sustainable and “the greenest road ever built”, which my constituents care about, are therefore pretty futile, given the overall size of the project.

   Hansard source
5. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (Third sitting)

   It is clearly incredibly important to all users of this future infrastructure and the present Dartford crossing that the ORR is as capable and fully equipped as it can be to carry out its duties. Up to now, the ORR has been more equipped on rail than on road, even though it has considerable responsibilities for roads at the moment. A recent report commissioned by the Department for Business and Trade indicated that the ORR needed to increase its skills and capacity in order to do this work. Will the Minister reassure my constituents and all other future users of the infrastructure that the ORR will be fully equipped, have full capability and be able to discharge its duties under the Bill?

   Hansard source
6. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Advanced Manufacturing

   <Question HRSContentId="{B956D3AF-119B-4996-8123-F055271DB51C}">T6. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{C0CA7B56-8A00-41BF-B1F9-1364B29039C9}" /> Small businesses in Dartford that I spoke to immediately after the Budget, including Thaiger Thai, Ali’s Cafe and Albion’s Bakery, all hugely welcomed the measure to change the threshold for payment of business rates to £18,000. That will cut their costs and those of many other businesses across the constituency. What other measures can they and other high street businesses expect going forward to boost their growth and supplement our high streets?</Question>

   Hansard source
7. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Poundland

   The Poundland store in Dartford forms an important part of the shopping offer at the Priory Centre, as well as the wider town centre. It employs local people, who will be desperately worried about their future in terms of their jobs and the continued survival of Poundland itself. Is it not clear that the Government cannot look on while a solvent company goes under, as the Opposition parties appear to be recommending that we do?

   Hansard source
8. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (First sitting)

   <strong>Q</strong><strong><QNum HRSContentId="{E0F279A9-6E97-4814-B645-D55FFAD3C95F}"> </QNum></strong> It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. Thank you to both of our witnesses for being here. You will not be surprised to know that, as the Member of Parliament for Dartford, I have residents who are hugely inconvenienced by the overcapacity of the current Dartford crossing every day and who really welcome the plans, which have been advanced very well under this Government, to build the lower Thames crossing. One concern for them is that there might be perverse incentives via the tolling to use one crossing rather than another. Do you have views about how we could make sure that does not happen and what the ORR would need to do in negotiation with the licence holder? Do you have any views about local resident discount schemes, including how well they have worked elsewhere and whether they should be a necessary part of any future arrangement, although that may not be in the Bill? <em><strong>Edmund King:</strong></em> Those are all relevant questions, even down to the time that the toll applies—is it 24 hours a day or 6 am to 10 pm, as it is currently? Are motorcycles free? What is the resident discount? Could there be a resident discount? We believe that there should be, because frequent users, such as those who live on one side of the crossing and work on the other, are already paying motoring tax in other ways, but is this a tax on jobs? Those issues are vital. It is also vital to get the support of local people, whether they be businesses or drivers. Giving those concessions would help win that support, particularly when we know that the construction period will cause a lot of congestion and adverse effects. Those are all valid points. <em><strong>Steve Gooding:</strong></em> All I would add is that this is one of the challenges with creating an overarching framework in the Bill rather than something specific to the Dartford and lower Thames crossings. I do not doubt that in the Secretary of State’s guidance to the ORR, there will be explicit reference to the need not to create the sort of problems that you envisage and to set toll levels in such a way that manages the traffic flow between the two crossings, but we have not yet seen that.

   Hansard source
9. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

   Highways (Financing) Bill (First sitting)

   <strong>Q</strong><strong><QNum HRSContentId="{E0A4F0EC-DEB6-46E3-BF10-27BD11CB52C5}"> </QNum></strong> Ben and Declan, you have set out very clearly the effect on your sector of the Dartford crossing being hugely over capacity. I have talked about how it affects hugely my residents’ quality of life and air quality. It has been suggested by some that we do not <span id="19" class="column-number" data-column-number="19"></span>need the project and should look at modal shift instead of, rather than alongside, the solution of the lower Thames crossing. What do you think would happen if the lower Thames crossing was not built—what is your scenario over the next decade? <em><strong>Ben Garratt:</strong></em> I think it would inhibit economic growth. Thinking about the modal shift piece, using the right modes for the right kind of journeys in our logistics system is really important, but it is not simply about getting more off congested roads and more on to rail. Rail can play a particularly strong role, as you would understand, where there are railway tracks that connect to ports and are bringing in containers. As this area gets congested, I do not think that would automatically lead to the logistics sector switching to rail, because of the lack of rail connectivity. It could, over time, lead to less use of the short straits and more use of container shipping but, really, those dynamics are shaped by where the goods are coming from in the world. It would largely just be a bottleneck. It would increase the costs, over time, of exporters connecting to new markets. The current situation will invariably be inhibiting businesses from thinking about going to export, because it has an effect on the costs. We want to see that resolved. In short, it would be bad for the economy if it did not happen. <em><strong>Declan Pang:</strong></em> We are very much behind it and we are grateful for your efforts in campaigning for it. We are pleased to see that the development consent order was approved. It is already having a significant impact on the economy, given the level of congestion. It is vital that we get it delivered.

   Hansard source
10. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Jim Dickson

    Highways (Financing) Bill (First sitting)

    <strong>Q</strong><strong><QNum HRSContentId="{C8911D2E-E0B1-4A34-8920-26EC3133F253}"> </QNum></strong> It has been suggested that the requirement to sign in separately to use each tolled arrangement in the UK—the Mersey tunnels, the Tyne tunnel, the M6 and elsewhere—is a burden on a whole variety of road users. Mr Whelan, what do you think of the opportunity to create interoperability among tolled arrangements, thereby making it better for the logistics industry and consumers who use multiple tolled arrangements? <em><strong>Michael Whelan:</strong></em> We fully support that and are looking at it as an industry—some operators of toll roads have come together to discuss that. Having one account makes a lot of sense, particularly for freight and logistics organisations. On top of that, interoperability can be expanded into other things, such as signage. Anywhere else in the world, toll roads will have a unique colour or symbol. That is important, because it helps to make sure there is some consistency and knowledge for the customer of what they are approaching, such as about when to pay. When it comes to free-flow tolling, it is important that people understand in advance what the rules are. Hence, we fully support part 7, with some minor amendments that we would like to see to clauses 92 to 94. Those are outlined in the pre-reading, but I think we might have run out of time to go through them now.

    Hansard source

2024 General Election: Dartford

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