The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many journeys he and his Ministers have undertaken in his Department’s ministerial car in the 2015-16 session of Parliament to date.
Stephen Crabb
Following my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales in July 2014, I returned the Wales Office’s Ministerial Car, delivering a saving of around £81,000 to the taxpayer for 2015/16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on non-UK registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Statistical estimates for the number of UK nationals employed as seafarers are available for calendar years from 2002 onwards. Data for 2015 is not yet available. Tonnage tax companies are required annually to inform the Department of the numbers of UK seafarers employed on their ships, as at 1 October each year. The table attached gives an extrapolation of these figures to estimate the number and percentage of UK seafarer ratings and officers who were employed on non-UK registered vessels entered in the tonnage tax in each year from 2002 to 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to require improvement of the punctuality and reliability of Govia Thameslink train services.
Claire Perry
I am chairing a monthly meeting involving Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Southeastern and Transport Focus to monitor and co-ordinate improvements in both performance and passenger experience in the South East. This work builds upon the Joint Improvement Plan that was developed in the Spring. This Group is absolutely committed to see improvement and, crucially, to make sure that rail customers see the benefits of these improvements.
GTR failed to meet their benchmark for cancellations set out in their Franchise Agreement and in the view of the Secretary of State they are also likely to exceed their delay minutes benchmark in the near future. In order to address their poor performance and hold them to account we issued them with a Remedial Plan Notice that requires them to set out the measures they will take to improve their performance. GTR have submitted their plan and once the measures are agreed by the Secretary of State they will become contractually binding through a Remedial Agreement. Officials regularly monitor GTR’s performance and this will include the delivery of the measures and performance improvements agreed through the Remedial Plan. Non-compliance may result in further enforcement action in line with the Franchise Agreement should the need arise.
Network Rail’s performance is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road, who have recently agreed a £4.1m package of improvements to be delivered by Network Rail on the Southern part of GTR franchise area in order to address performance issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve reliability and punctuality of the Govia Thameslink rail line.
Claire Perry
I am chairing a monthly meeting involving Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Southeastern and Transport Focus to monitor and co-ordinate improvements in both performance and passenger experience in the South East. This work builds upon the Joint Improvement Plan that was developed in the Spring. This Group is absolutely committed to see improvement and, crucially, to make sure that rail customers see the benefits of these improvements.
GTR failed to meet their benchmark for cancellations set out in their Franchise Agreement and in the view of the Secretary of State they are also likely to exceed their delay minutes benchmark in the near future. In order to address their poor performance and hold them to account we issued them with a Remedial Plan Notice that requires them to set out the measures they will take to improve their performance. GTR have submitted their plan and once the measures are agreed by the Secretary of State they will become contractually binding through a Remedial Agreement. Officials regularly monitor GTR’s performance and this will include the delivery of the measures and performance improvements agreed through the Remedial Plan. Non-compliance may result in further enforcement action in line with the Franchise Agreement should the need arise.
Network Rail’s performance is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road, who have recently agreed a £4.1m package of improvements to be delivered by Network Rail on the Southern part of GTR franchise area in order to address performance issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme were registered under each flag in category one of the Red Ensign Group in each year since 2008-09.
Mr Robert Goodwill
There is no direct requirement as to the country of registration of vessels entered in the tonnage tax scheme. While the tonnage tax has helped in the revival of the UK shipping register, it has also attracted inward investment from companies operating vessels of other flags, which we welcome. The identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, and that confidentiality could be compromised by giving a detailed breakdown by flag of the numbers of qualifying vessels in any year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to problems with the line infrastructure in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Claire Perry
The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes. The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on category one Red Ensign Group registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department does not collect the information requested. As the identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, we would not be able to disclose the information requested, if it were available, as it might make it possible to identify individual tonnage tax groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to there being no trains available to operate services in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Claire Perry
In rail period 1608 (18 October – 14 November) there were 448 full and 403 part cancellations attributed to rolling stock fleet causes. These figures include cancellations made for service recovery reasons where the initial incident was caused by rolling stock failure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for competition in the bus market of (a) voluntary partnership agreements and (b) statutory quality partnerships; and what account he plans to take of those implications in framing legislation on bus franchising.
Andrew Jones
Competition issues in bus partnerships are primarily a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority and for the local authorities involved in the partnership concerned. I anticipate that the Buses Bill will include new measures on partnership working between local transport authorities and bus operators.
The aim of these measures would be to facilitate more effective partnershipdevelopment between local authorities and bus operators, resulting in better quality bus services for passengers, whilst ensuring fair bus market competition.
Under a bus franchising regime competition would be for, rather than within, the bus market. The competition issues that apply are therefore materially different from those associated with partnerships arrangements between bus operators and local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has been unable to provide MyCSP with accurate pension data for its staff on which pension benefit statements can be based; and by what date he expects that matter to be resolved.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is not able to provide myCSP with accurate pensions data on its staff because of an ongoing technical issue with the interface between its shared service supplier and myCSP.
All parties are working on a permanent solution and the MCA understands that this issue will be fixed early in 2016.