Tag: Andy McDonald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coastguards were employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since 2010-11.

Mr John Hayes

The number of Coastguards employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since 2010/11 is as follows:

2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
517	491	469	418	386	416	424

When interpreting the above numbers, it is important to note that the new HM Coastguard structure enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and nine Coastguard Operation Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident around the UK coast. Workload and incidents continue to managed locally but all Coastguard Centres now have a national support network available to them during busy periods. These arrangements are most effectively deployed from a smaller national footprint.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how frequent the partnership meetings between his Department and Rail North are; and who represents his Department at those meetings.

Andrew Jones

The Rail North Partnership Strategic Board currently meets on a monthly basis to oversee the work of the Partnership Management Team.

The Department’s representatives on this Board are the Markets Director, Passenger Services; the Deputy Director Midlands, North & Wales, Passenger Services; and the Programme Director, Network Services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to his Department was of each re-tendering exercise held for franchises for (a) long distance and (b) regional passenger rail services in each year since 2005-06.

Paul Maynard

Prior to the re-launch of the Franchising Programme in spring 2013, the costs of different franchising projects were not individually recorded.

The cost of each re-franchising project since the re-launch is as follows:

Franchise	Cost (£M)	Notes
Essex Thameside	4.815	1
Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern	7.288
East Coast	8.429	2
Northern	8.668 (to date)	3
TransPennine Express	7.577 (to date)	3
East Anglia	7.413 (to date)	3

These figures include adviser costs (financial, technical and legal advisers), pay costs for the project team, “non-pay” costs (such as bidder day seminars, public consultations, etc), and VAT where applicable, for the duration of the procurements.

Note that the sums invested in each re-franchising project are dwarfed by the (Resource) Support for Passenger Rail Services benefits to the Department from the re-franchising – £200 for every £1.

Notes

NOTE 1: The Essex Thameside figure represents the work done after the relaunch of the Franchising Programme. There was a significant amount of work completed prior to the pausing of the programme in autumn 2012 which is not included here.

NOTE 2: The Intercity East Coast costs were not charged to the public purse, but were covered by the Performance Bond that National Express put forward following its default of the previous East Coast contract.

NOTE 3: The figures for Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE) and East Anglia are the latest figures (as at the end of August 2016). East Anglia is still a ‘live’ project. Whilst Northern and TPE have concluded, there are still some residual costs that may affect the final figures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate has been made of the (a) coastguard and (b) lifeguard capacity on UK (i) beaches and (ii) coastal waters.

Mr John Hayes

Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams are appropriately trained and so can be deployed for any incident on beaches or at the coast. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency continually monitors the local provision of this capability.

Safety at public beaches, and specifically the provision of lifeguarding services, is generally the responsibility of the local authority, who carry out risk assessments to determine appropriate safety measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made on its proposed plans to introduce a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management as announced in Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more Prosperous Nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015.

Nick Boles

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) to question UIN 16937.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who funds arrangements for the DFT Rail North Board meetings.

Andrew Jones

The funding arrangements for the Rail North Partnership are a combination of direct funding from DfT to cover the staffing cost that would have been incurred in the management of the two franchises at DfT as well as Rail North Limited membership fees and an allocation of Rail Administration Grant from Combined Authorities. This funding is fixed and indexed. This funding covers all activities undertaken by the Rail North Partnership, including the DfT/Rail North Strategic Board meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many platform train interface incidents reported on the national rail network involved driver-only operated passenger services in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard

This information is not held by the Department. Some information about platform-train interface incidents is held by the Rail Standards and Safety Board and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, but the Department understands that this is not recorded in a way that enables the requested breakdown to be provided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to his Department was of each re-tendering exercise held for franchises for (a) long distance and (b) regional passenger rail services in each year since 2005-06.

Paul Maynard

Prior to the re-launch of the Franchising Programme in spring 2013, the costs of different franchising projects were not individually recorded.

The cost of each re-franchising project since the re-launch is as follows:

Franchise	Cost (£M)	Notes
Essex Thameside	4.815	1
Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern	7.288
East Coast	8.429	2
Northern	8.668 (to date)	3
TransPennine Express	7.577 (to date)	3
East Anglia	7.413 (to date)	3

These figures include adviser costs (financial, technical and legal advisers), pay costs for the project team, “non-pay” costs (such as bidder day seminars, public consultations, etc), and VAT where applicable, for the duration of the procurements.

The (admin) sums invested in competent staff and advisors are dwarfed by the (Resource) SPRS benefits to the Department – £200 for every pound spent.

Notes

NOTE 1: The Essex Thameside figure represents the work done after the relaunch of the Franchising Programme. There was a significant amount of work completed prior to the pausing of the programme in autumn 2012 which is not included here.

NOTE 2: The costs for the refranchising of the Intercity East Coast Franchise were not charged to the public purse, but were covered by the Performance Bond that National Express put forward following its default of the previous East Coast contract.

NOTE 3: The figures for Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE) and East Anglia are the latest figures (as at the end of August 2016). East Anglia is still a ‘live’ project. Whilst Northern and TPE have concluded, there are still some residual costs that may affect the final figures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the annual change in tax revenue from extending the national living wage to those aged between 18 and 25.

Mr David Gauke

Younger workers tend to have less experience than older workers in the labour market, and so there is a risk that too high a wage rate may make them relatively less attractive to employers. So, to minimise any negative impact on employment of younger workers, the National Living Wage is limited to those 25 and over. The Government has not therefore made an estimate of what the fiscal impact of this policy change would be.

The Office for Budgetary Responsibility estimate that, by 2020-21, the National Living Wage will increase income tax and NICs receipts by around £0.1bn, as set out in Table B.3 in of their July 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. They assume that, by 2020-21, the overall impact of the policy on the public finances is to reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.2bn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding the Government provides to Rail North.

Andrew Jones

The Rail North Partnership brings together activities that were previously undertaken by DfT and Local Transport Authorities in the North. Accordingly the Government has agreed that £500,000 p.a. of existing annual grant funding provided by the Department to the North of England Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs) and Combined Authorities can be used to fund Rail North. In addition, the Department funds staffing costs that it would have otherwise incurred itself.