Tag: Lilian Greenwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what orders were placed by (a) Network Rail and (b) Highways England for (i) steel manufactured by UK-based companies and (ii) all steel in 2014-15; and what tonnage was ordered at what cost in each such order.

Claire Perry

Network Rail advises that for its major use of steel it has a five year framework contract from April 2014 for the supply of new steel rails from Long Steels UK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. Network Rail is in close contact with Tata Steel to ensure continuity of supply.

Network Rail buys approximately 140,000 tonnes of steel rail per annum from Tata Steel, which equates to around 95% of total aggregated demand for Network Rail. This is supplied directly from Scunthorpe. Smaller contracts are also in place with Arcelor Mittal (Spain) and Voestalpine (Austria). These relate to the manufacture of very special steel products.

These volumes are broken down are as follows. The figures for 2015-16 are provisional:

Year	Tata Supply (Tonnes)	Tata Spend (£)
2011-12	137,762.2408	97,715,813.91
2012-13	142,022.9286	100,210,560.98
2013-14	158,891.8490	107,201,303.99
2014-15	138,387.2325	90,832,520.93
2015-16	138,000	87,713,500.74

Highways England does not procure steel materials directly. Despite the changes in UK steel output over the last five years, Highways England and its predecessor have continued to invest heavily in UK steel. During this period Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network. To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from Tata Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

As rail freight is a wholly commercial business and therefore has to respond to market changes as part of its operational model, the Government does not itself undertake assessments of the impact on rail freight of variations in the flows of specific commodities. Network Rail’s Freight Market Study, published in 2013, assumed a small recovery in the steel market based on information available at that time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train trial will start.

Claire Perry

The current programme shows the start of passenger services between Rotherham Parkgate and Sheffield city centre in early 2017.

The very nature of the trial means that we are pushing on the envelope of known standards and interfaces between heavy and light rail systems and some technological issues have been significant. However, a key objective of the project is to provide a template for future schemes in other cities that will then allow much quicker and cost effective implementation of a system where the lower cost of operating tram trains on heavy rail routes will deliver long term reductions in opex and capex along the lines of Sir Roy McNulty’s findings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in UK steel output in the last five years on the (a) value of orders placed by Network Rail and Highways England to companies in the UK supply chain and (b) projected number of steel-carrying rail freight movements over the next three years.

Claire Perry

Network Rail advises that for its major use of steel it has a five year framework contract from April 2014 for the supply of new steel rails from Long Steels UK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. Network Rail is in close contact with Tata Steel to ensure continuity of supply.

Network Rail buys approximately 140,000 tonnes of steel rail per annum from Tata Steel, which equates to around 95% of total aggregated demand for Network Rail. This is supplied directly from Scunthorpe. Smaller contracts are also in place with Arcelor Mittal (Spain) and Voestalpine (Austria). These relate to the manufacture of very special steel products.

These volumes are broken down are as follows. The figures for 2015-16 are provisional:

Year	Tata Supply (Tonnes)	Tata Spend (£)
2011-12	137,762.2408	97,715,813.91
2012-13	142,022.9286	100,210,560.98
2013-14	158,891.8490	107,201,303.99
2014-15	138,387.2325	90,832,520.93
2015-16	138,000	87,713,500.74

Highways England does not procure steel materials directly. Despite the changes in UK steel output over the last five years, Highways England and its predecessor have continued to invest heavily in UK steel. During this period Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network. To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from Tata Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

As rail freight is a wholly commercial business and therefore has to respond to market changes as part of its operational model, the Government does not itself undertake assessments of the impact on rail freight of variations in the flows of specific commodities. Network Rail’s Freight Market Study, published in 2013, assumed a small recovery in the steel market based on information available at that time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what compensation the Government has made available to road and rail freight and passenger operators affected by the ongoing disruption at Calais.

Andrew Jones

We are clear that the disruption caused to passengers and operators by the disruption in Calais is unacceptable.

That is why we are working hard to find a long-term solution to Operation Stack, and closely with the French Government to minimise the causes of disruption.

There are no specific provisions for compensation by Her Majesty’s Government in the circumstances where disruption does occur.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12539, whether the meeting of the Board Investment and Commercial Committee on 23 March 2015 was attended by (a) Ministers in his Department, (b) special advisers in his Department and (c) officials in the Senior Civil Service grades.

Claire Perry

The 23 March Board Investment and Commercial Committee ‎meeting was attended by senior officials from the Department for Transport. No Ministers or advisers were present.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on which dates (a) the full Cycling Shareholder Forum, (b) the safety sub-group of the Cycling Stakeholder Forum and (c) the High Level Cycling Group have held meetings in the last 12 months.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The last Cycling Stakeholder forum meeting was on 24^th June 2014, and the last safety-sub group meeting was held on 13 July 2013.

The High Level Cycling Group has met within the last 12 months. The most recent meeting was on 13 July 2015. Previous meetings were held on 8 September 2014 and 30 April 2014.

We are in the process of reviewing our arrangements for stakeholder engagement, as part of the work we are doing to form the governance structure for the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12538, and with reference to the statement in the Answer of 21 September 2015 to Question 10029 that Ely to Soham track doubling was among a small number of schemes that had been paused by Network Rail, which other schemes were paused by Network Rail.

Claire Perry

The Secretary of State announced on 25 June 2015 the pause of work on Midland Main Line electrification and TransPennine electrification. Network Rail subsequently announced to stakeholders that it was pausing work on Ely to Soham track doubling. No other pauses have been announced.

Any further changes to Network Rail’s delivery plans will be announced as part of the outcome of Sir Peter Hendy’s review.

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 21 September 2015 to Question 10029, which schemes referred to in that Answer have been paused by Network Rail.

Claire Perry

The Secretary of State announced on 25 June 2015 the pause of work on Midland Main Line electrification and TransPennine electrification.

On 30 September 2015 he announced that work on these schemes would resume.

Whilst Sir Peter Hendy completes his review of Network Rail’s Enhancements programme, the efficient and cost effective delivery of other projects is a matter for Network Rail to manage.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12213, whether his Department has imposed any penalties on bus operators who submitted ineligible claims for Bus Service Operators Grant support for closed school bus services.

Andrew Jones

Further to my answers to earlier questions of 15 and 23 October (questions 11430 and 12213) on the subject of claims for Bus Service Operator Grant for school services, where we have identified claims in the past for closed school services these have been disallowed. However, as was made clear in the letter which my officials have sent recently to all operators, my Department will take the strongest possible measures against any operator who knowingly claims for such ineligible services in future.

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 11601, which was the senior committee of his Department that met on 23 March 2015 and was referred to in that Answer.

Claire Perry

The senior committee referred to in the answer of 16 October to question 11601 is the Board Investment and Commercial Committee.