Tag: Lord Berkeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of the cost of HS2’s AP3 design for its part of Euston Station and, within that cost, what allowances have been made for (1) inflation, (2) property purchase and compensation, (3) demolition, and (4) provision for taxis, buses and connections to London Underground and Crossrail 2, if built.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The latest cost estimate for Euston is £2,250m. This is based on the revised proposal for Euston included in the 3rd Additional Provision (AP3) to the Phase One hybrid Bill, deposited in Parliament in September 2015.

This figure is at 2nd quarter 2011 price levels and excludes land and property, inflation and contingency costs.

The property purchase and compensation costs for the AP3 proposals are included as part of the wider property budget for Phase One of HS2.

This estimate includes provisional allowances for demolition, station connections for taxis & buses and connections to London Underground. Due to their commercial sensitivity, figures for those provisional allowances are not currently available for release.

The AP3 proposals do not include a connection for Crossrail 2, however the design of the high speed station has been coordinated with the promoters of the Crossrail 2 scheme and AP3 does not preclude a connection.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 September (HL1473), who are the members of HS2 Ltd.’s Conflict of Interest Panel; which cases of potential conflict of interest they have considered in the last year; what was their decision in each case; and whether they intend to publish this information every six months in the future.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It is not possible to provide the names of HS2 Ltd’s Conflict of Interest Panel Members, nor details of specific cases which have been heard as we do not consider doing so would be consistent with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Unfair disclosure of personal data is a breach of the First Data Protection Principles under the DPA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current railway legislation permits a managing director of a railway undertaking to hold a senior management position on the infrastructure management company on which that railway undertaking operates.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Current railway legislation does not prohibit an arrangement of this sort. However, railway legislation contains safeguards designed to prevent conflicts of interests arising in respect of infrastructure management and the management of railway undertakings, particularly as regards the allocation of track access rights and the determination of charges. It would be for the infrastructure manager to satisfy themselves that such an arrangement complies with all relevant legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the completion date, and (2) the impact on electricity sale prices, of (a) the Swansea Lagoon project, and (b) the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

EDF have said that they expect Hinkley Point C to start generating electricity in 2025. Hinkley Point C is a good deal for everyone including consumers – Hinkley would provide reliable energy at an affordable cost, powering nearly six million homes for around 60 years and creating more than 25,000 jobs.

The negotiations regarding a Contract for Difference for the proposed Swansea Bay lagoon remain ongoing.

On 10 February, the Government announced an independent review to consider alternatives approaches to financing tidal lagoons, providing an evidence base to ensuring decisions are taken in the best interest of bill-payers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government for which projects and for what reasons the Highways Agency has requested an additional £140 million funding.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

£140m was allocated to Highways England to complete schemes which had not been included in the five year road programme detailed in the Road Investment Strategy.

The funding was used to complete the ‘pinch point’ programme, Dart Charge implementation, as well as the completion of various small improvement schemes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the following European Union implementing acts, when those acts were due to be transposed into UK law; when they intend to have transposed each; why they have not yet done so; and what action the European Commission has taken against the UK government for any delay: (1) Implementing Regulation (EU) 909/2015 regarding charging and direct cost; (2) Implementing Regulation (EU) 545/2016 regarding framework agreements; (3) Implementing Regulation (EU) 171/2015 regarding licensing; (4) Implementing Regulation (EU) 10/2015 regarding applicants; (5) Implementing Regulation (EU) 869/2014 regarding the principal purpose and economic equilibrium test; (6) Implementing Regulation (EU) 429/2015 regarding noise differentiated track access charges; and (7) Implementing Regulation (EU) 1100/2015 regarding rail market monitoring.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

These implementing Regulations are directly applicable and do not require transposition into UK law. Their legal effect in the UK derives from the European Committee Act 1972.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the planned expansion of Luton Airport from 10 million to 18 million passengers a year, they intend to include in the specification for the new Midland Main Line longer-distance passenger service a requirement that four trains per hour per direction should call at Luton Parkway in order to increase the percentage of air passengers arriving by rail.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The next East Midlands franchise is due to start in July 2018 and we are currently undertaking a process of information gathering to develop the high-level view of the franchise specification. We are due to begin a public consultation later this year to inform the specification. Until the views submitted through the public consultation are understood and further analysis is conducted on the options for the franchise, a firm decision cannot be taken at this stage. I would encourage the noble Lord to make his views known through the formal public consultation process when it opens.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how their work on the governance part of the European Fourth railway package will facilitate UK train operating companies being able to tender for and be awarded rail franchises in a fair and transparent manner.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The government continues to work on the market pillar of the EU Fourth Railway Package, consisting of the proposal to amend Directive 2012/34/EU, the “Governance proposal” and the proposal to amend Regulation EC/1370/2007, the “Public Service Obligations proposal”.

The government was able to support a General Approach on the pillar at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 8^th October 2015. The General Approach text of the Governance proposal includes additional, proportionate provisions to ensure fair and non‑discriminatory treatment of all train operating companies, including safeguards for operators of franchises. Rules on the competitive tendering of franchises are set out in the Public Service Obligations proposal.

The government continues to work with the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU in their ongoing negotiations of the Package with the European Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they are proposing to discontinue the use of the Westbury East Loop Junction and Hawkeridge Junction line for passenger services, and whether such a change will prevent that line from being used for diversion routes for passenger services in future.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The proposal is to withdraw one regular passenger train service in one direction only Monday to Friday over this short curve on the grounds of low usage and for the service instead to serve the nearby important station of Westbury. The service was designated as experimental in 2011.

The withdrawal of the experimental status for the passenger service in question does not affect the line itself, which will continue to remain open for diverted passenger trains and freight.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the HS2 project intends to use secondary aggregates, and if so, in which types of concrete required for Phase 1 of that project.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As part of our overall sustainability policy for HS2, we plan to use both secondary and re-cycled aggregates in structures which are designed with concrete. Their use, along with the types of concrete to be used, will be dependent on the specific design characteristics of individual HS2 structures and will be subject to the detailed design process in due course. The design process will also take into account other important sustainable factors such as material availability and logistics.