Tag: Lilian Greenwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Network Rail first informed his Department of their estimate that electrification of the Great Western Main Line would cost more than £2 billion.

Claire Perry

In June 2015, as part of the affordability review exercise, Network Rail informed Department that the latest estimated cost of Great Western electrification was around £2.4bn. This forecast costs remained uncertain and further work was required to validate this figure. The validation is being undertaken as part of the Hendy review and we await the publication in the Autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if it is his policy to make available proposed new powers to regulate bus networks to local authorities that do not have a metro mayor.

Andrew Jones

Local Authorities already have the powers to regulate their bus networks through the Quality Contract Scheme process set out in the Transport Act 2000, as amended by the Local Transport Act 2008.

We have now signed ground-breaking deals with Greater Manchester, Cornwall, and Sheffield, in which we committed to providing them with powers to franchise their bus services. The Buses Bill will be introduced later in the first session and will provide the powers for local transport authorities to regulate their local bus networks through a franchising process subject to agreement from government.

Government has real ambition to improve public transport in other areas too, and our devolution plans go beyond Manchester, Cornwall and Sheffield. If other places want to come forward with attractive devolution deals that include bus franchising we will consider them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s expenditure on the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) was in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15; and what his Department’s projected expenditure on the BSOG is in 2015-16.

Andrew Jones

Total expenditure on the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15 in accrual terms and rounded to the nearest £million is set out below.

2010-11 £445m

2011-12 £441m

2012-13 £344m

2013-14 £291m

2014/15 £253m

Since 1 October 2013, the BSOG which was previously paid to bus operators for running bus services under franchise to Transport for London (TfL) in London has been incorporated into the general grant paid to TfL and the Greater London Authority. The figures given above exclude some £47 million paid to TfL/GLA in this way for 2013/14 and some £93 million paid to them for 2014/15.

The figures given for 2013/14 onwards are made up of (i) BSOG paid to bus companies and community transport operators for running services outside London, (ii) BSOG devolved to local transport authorities in the five areas which have been designated as Better Bus Areas, and (iii) BSOG for tendered (non-commercially viable) services outside London for which the funding has been devolved to individual local authorities since 1 January 2014.

As BSOG is a demand-led grant, it is too early to give an accurate projection of spend for 2015/16. However, we would expect it to be broadly similar to that for 2014-15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11759, if he will place a copy of the report compiled by EY in connection with changes to Network Rail in the Library.

Claire Perry

The work referenced in Question 11759 was commissioned in order to inform a range of policy options. This work is ongoing, and therefore we will not be placing it in the House Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his oral evidence to the Transport Select Committee on Volkswagen Group emissions violations on 12 October 2015, Q88, HC 495, on what date he sent his letter to Commissioner Bieńkowska; whether he has received a reply to that letter; and if will place a copy of his reply in the Library.

Andrew Jones

A letter was sent to Commissioner Bienkowska on 22 September.

Commissioner Bienkowska wrote on 14 October to Ministers of the Competitiveness Council, Transport Ministers and Environment Ministers. In this letter she set out the actions the Commission are taking.

I am pleased to place a copy of the 22 September letter in the House Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the transfer of Intercity 125 sets from the Great Western franchise to the Scotrail franchise in 2017-18 is conditional on Network Rail meeting its current regulated output targets on the Great Western Main Line electrification project.

Claire Perry

The lease for the Intercity 125 sets is a commercial matter between Great Western Railway (GWR) and the owner of the fleet. Under current plans, the transfer of the rolling stock is not conditional on Network Rail meeting its current regulated output targets on the Great Western Main Line electrification project.

The planned schedule for the introduction of the InterCity Express Programme fleet to replace the Intercity 125 sets will see the new trains enter service from 2017 on the Great Western Main Line.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October to Question 12230, if he will provide a breakdown by English region of the figures provided in the first table contained in that Answer under the headings (a) his Department’s spend per head and (b) total spend per head.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below details spend per head per region on cycling. These figures are made up of the following Government funded programmes: Cycle-Rail, Cycle Safety, Linking Communities, Cycle Ambition Cities, Cycle Ambition National Parks and the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.. The figures for total funding consist of DfT funding plus matched funding. Matched funding comes from a range of public and private sources, for example local authority budgets, private partnerships or third party grants.

We do not hold a regional breakdown for the £4.8m spent in 2013/14 by the Highways Agency. The table also does not include the £11m a year spent on Bikeability cycle training, as we do not hold a regional breakdown of this funding. These funding streams have therefore been excluded from the below calculations. Further, as we are still in financial year 2015/16 we cannot confirm exact expenditure and we have therefore excluded the 2015/16 financial year from the figures.

Region	Average spend per head to nearest £
	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
East Midlands	DfT spend	1	1	1	1
	Total spend	3	3	4	3
East of England	DfT spend	1	2	2	1
	Total spend	3	4	4	4
North East	DfT spend	1	2	2	2
	Total spend	5	6	8	7
North West	DfT spend	1	2	3	2
	Total spend	4	6	6	6
South East	DfT spend	1	2	2	1
	Total spend	4	5	5	5
South West	DfT spend	1	2	3	2
	Total spend	7	7	8	8
West Midlands	DfT spend	1	1	3	3
	Total spend	4	4	6	6
Yorkshire & Humber	DfT spend	1	1	3	3
	Total spend	4	5	7	7
London	Total spend	2	3	9	13

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 7 of his Department’s publication, Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) Information pack and Conditions of Eligibility, how much his Department has spent on (a) the eight per cent ITSO smartcard BSOG supplement and (b) the two per cent Automatic Vehicle Location BSOG supplement in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15; and what his Department’s projected expenditure is in 2015-16 on those items.

Andrew Jones

This information is set out in the table below.

£ million

Year	Smartcard	Automatic Vehicle Location
2010/11	1.365	0.592
2011/12	9.501	1.662
2012/13	15.664	4.296
2013/14	16.247	4.109
2014/15	16.169	4.138

Since 2010, these two supplements have helped lead to real benefits for passengers. Over 86% of buses in England outside London are now smart-equipped and 93% of buses outside London now have automatic vehicle location equipment compared to 45% in 2009-10.

At this stage it is too early to estimate the likely payments for 2015/16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Chief Executive of Network Rail’s letter to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee of 19 October 2015, what the component cost headings of Network Rail’s revised £2.5 billion to £2.8 billion cost estimate for Great Western Main Line electrification are.

Claire Perry

As the Department’s Permanent Secretary, Philip Rutnam, stated at the Public Accounts Committee of 21 October 2015, the estimate provided by Mr Carne has not yet been subject to detailed scrutiny, either by the Department or the Office of Road and Regulation(ORR). We expect to receive details of the estimate as part of the Hendy Review which will cover the entire 2014-2019 enhancements portfolio. This is expected later in the Autumn and it would be premature to comment on costs before the report is finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 12187, which organisations were represented at the High Level Cycling Group’s meeting on 13 July 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Representatives from the following organisations attended the High Level Cycling Group’s meeting on 13 July 2015:

• Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)
• Bicycle Association
• British Cycling
• Cyclists Touring Club (CTC)
• Department for Transport
• PTEG (Passenger Transport Executive Group) – Dialled in
• Sustrans
• The AA
• Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) – Dialled in
• Transport for London (TfL)