Tag: Lilian Greenwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39527, on bus services, what consultation he undertook on the role of municipal bus companies on the proposals in Clause 21 of the Bus Services Bill; and what research he has commissioned on the potential effects of that clause on (a) passengers and (b) the bus services market.

Andrew Jones

This policy will not impact on existing municipal operators.

Currently there are only 8 existing municipal bus companies operating services in England, and we are not aware of any current plans to establish new municipal bus companies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that (a) plug sockets, (b) tables and (c) WiFi equipment should be installed in all standard class Thameslink Class 700 carriages.

Claire Perry

Contract variations have been proposed by my Department to introduce seat back tables and WiFi infrastructure throughout the new Class 700 Thameslink trains and officials are negotiating the details with the other contractual parties. My officials are also exploring with Siemens, the manufacturer of the new Class 700 Thameslink trains, the scope for increasing the number of plug sockets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2016 to Question 40286, asked by the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, what the title is of the group that meets monthly.

Paul Maynard

The title of this group is the South East Quadrant.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) his Department’s and (b) HS2 Ltd’s capital and resource expenditure has been on High Speed 2 in each year since 2009-10.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd’s capital and resource expenditure on High Speed 2 in each year since 2009-10 is:

£ million	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16*
DfT (High Speed Rail Group)
Resource	0	0	1.6	5.3	14.8	21.5	10.1
Capital	0	9.6	19.7	23.1	105.3	180.9	46.8
HS2 Ltd
Resource	9.4	14.6	33.9	176.4	210.0	32.8	15.5
Capital	0.03	0.1	0.4	8.1	2.9	155.0	155.7
Total DfT/HS2 Ltd	9.43	24.3	55.6	212.9	333.1	390.2	228.1

* Figures for 2015 – 16 are year to date up to end September 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on his Department’s South East Flexible Ticketing programme.

Claire Perry

Smart ticketing was taken forward by the Coalition Government after 2010. The South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme is proceeding with contractual obligations for five train operators who run commuter services into London – Abellio Greater Anglia, c2c, Govia Thameslink Railway, Southeastern and South West Trains. Together, these five train operators cover 73% of the annual season ticket market. We are discussing with the Rail Delivery Group and the remaining train operators the best and quickest way to deliver smart and more flexible ticketing for commuters in the south east and across all of England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Network Rail maintenance, renewal or enhancement works that were planned to be carried out under blockade during the 2015-16 Christmas and New Year period were cancelled or deferred.

Claire Perry

Network Rail has advised that of the schemes at the 80 highest priority worksites over the 2015/16 Christmas/New Year period, only one was cancelled – planned bridge works at Old Lodge Lane at Purley, which were cancelled due to high winds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the statement on page 1 of Network Rail’s report, Replanning the Investment Programme, published on 25 November 2015, that there will be a reduction in renewals activity in Control Period 5, what renewal works Network Rail intends to defer into Control Period 6; and what the planned expenditure was on those works in Control Period 5.

Claire Perry

The Office of Rail and Road’s Final Determination for Control Period 5^[1] assumed that Network Rail would spend £12.1bn on renewals between 2014-2019. Network Rail is reviewing its plans for the coming financial year and will publish an updated Delivery Plan in March containing detailed forward plans for the delivery of operations, maintenance and renewals up to 2019.

^[1] http://orr.gov.uk/publications/reports/final-determination

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of Highways England’s compliance with the conditions on environmental duties set out in paragraphs 5.23 and 5.24 of the Highways England: Licence, published in April 2015.

Andrew Jones

The Office for Rail and Road (ORR), as Highways Monitor, published a six month report on Highways England’s performance in December 2015. This comments on the Highways England Biodiversity Action Plan, which was published in June 2015.

ORR will report annually on Highways England’s performance and in line with the requirement in the Licence, I expect Highways England to publish their environmental strategy shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to HS2 Ltd’s Information Paper, G3: Construction Commissioner, published on 16 December 2015, what annual salary he expects to pay to the HS2 Construction Commissioner; to what body the Construction Commissioner will report; what steps he will take to safeguard the Commissioner’s independence from his Department and HS2 Ltd; for what reasons the Commissioner will not be able to consider claims for losses of over £10,000; and what the exemption from the role of matters considered by Parliament in approving the project is planned cover.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The HS2 Construction Commissioner will report to a steering group that will be entirely independent of HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport. The independent steering group will be responsible for agreeing the Commissioner’s terms of reference. It is envisaged that the steering group will include members who represent community interests and the construction industry. The Construction Commissioner and independent steering group will be appointed in time for when HS2 construction begins.

The salary of the HS2 Construction Commissioner is expected to be £575 per day, based on working eight days per month, and is in line with other comparable roles. This will be subject to review by the independent steering group.

The Commissioner will be responsible for investigating complaints relating to the construction of HS2 Phase One that cannot be resolved through HS2 Ltd’s corporate complaints procedure. In addition, it is anticipated that one of the roles of the HS2 Construction Commissioner will be to act as an arbitrator for the HS2 Small Claims Scheme in the event that a dispute cannot be resolved through the normal process. The Small Claims Scheme is expected to have an initial maximum claim value of £10,000. This figure is provisional, based on other infrastructure projects, and will be subject to review by the steering group.

Further information regarding the HS2 Small Claims Scheme is available in HS2 Information Paper C10, which can be accessed via the following weblink:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/high-speed-rail-london-west-midlands-bill

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on Network Rail’s Capacity Plus study; which industry groups have contributed to that study; and when he expects that study to be published.

Claire Perry

Network Rail is continuing work on its Capacity Plus study. Train operating companies and freight operating companies, passenger transport executives and local authorities, High Speed 2 Ltd and the Department for Transport are engaged in the study process. Network Rail will set a publication date in due course.