Tag: Lord Berkeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Minute to Parliament describing the contingent liability with an indicative value of up to £500 million, as created by the Market Disruption Facility agreed and signed by the Secretary of State and Bazalgette Tunnel Limited on 24 August 2015 in connection with the Thames Tideway Tunnel project was published, in the light of the fact that the potential exposure of the public purse exceeds £300,000; and when a Minute to Parliament was published in respect of the further contingent liability created by the Secretary of State in connection with the same project through his agreement to the Contingent Equity Support Agreement, signed on the same day with the same party, in the light of the fact that the liability could be as great or greater than that in the Market Disruption Facility.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Defra did not submit departmental Minutes on the various limbs of the Government’s contingent financial support package for the Thames Tideway Tunnel because the Secretary of State has statutory authority to give financial assistance for major water or sewerage infrastructure projects under section 154B of the Water Industry Act 1991. This is consistent with the approach set out in HM Treasury’s guidance, Managing Public Money, paragraph A5.4.21 & Box A5.4C.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-06-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Thames Tideway Tunnel project will send clean excavated materials to landfill permit sites as a waste or to be beneficially reused as a material or product as recovery in accordance with its commitment to reduce waste to landfill in the development consent order.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Tideway, the infrastructure provider set up to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel, has been assessing several sites identified through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process to receive the tunnel excavated material.

Amongst other things this assessment looks at maximising the beneficial use of excavated material and its transport by river to meet environmental commitments made under the DCO. The relevant site operators have already made a number of applications to the Environment Agency (EA). The type of permit these sites require will be assessed by the EA in line with its guidance. This guidance is currently being revised following a recent Court of Appeal judgment which in some cases may lead to the reclassification of some waste activities as disposal rather than recovery. It is possible for appropriate disposal to deliver beneficial use such as habitat creation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which technical approvals are still outstanding in respect of the new Hinkley Point nuclear power plant.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The EPR reactor proposed for use at Hinkley Point C has successfully completed Generic Design Assessment. NNBGenCo has also received a site licence to operate the site, environmental permits and development consent. The UK’s independent regulators will continue to regulate Hinkley Point C through construction, operation and decommissioning. Specifically, once safety-related construction activities have started, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) will use the nuclear site licence to regulate construction by releasing key hold points in line with NNB GenCo’s development of the site specific safety case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many key performance indicators are used by the Office of Rail and Road to monitor Network Rail’s performance.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have informed me that in the current five yearly regulatory cycle (Control Period 5) that started on 1st April 2014, they established 13 categories of regulated outputs,some of which are disaggregated further, such as by franchised train operator route or by delivery milestones.These outputs include train service reliability, enhancements, health and safety, network availability, network capability, stations, depots, asset management and environment.

There are 25 categories of core indicators from these outputs, which are disaggregated further. Full details of the regulated outputs can be found on table 3.11, page 125 of the Final Determination for Control Period 5, a copy of which is attached.

The ORR publishes six monthly reports on Network Rail’s progress in relation to these regulated outputs in the ‘Network Rail Monitor’ and the ‘Network Rail Monitor for Scotland’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Bowe report into Network Rail will be completed, and whether it will be published.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Secretary of State for Transport expects to receive the Bowe Review once it is completed later in the autumn.

The Secretary of State has committed to publish the Review in the autumn.

Upon publication copies will be placed in both Libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they have proposed to requirements for disposing of Network Rail land not currently used for rail-related purposes.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Condition 7 of Network Rail’s network licence regulates the disposal of the company’s land assets. Network Rail’s network licence is held with the Office of Rail and Road. The Government has not proposed any changes to Condition 7.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to transfer responsibility for economic regulation and railway safety within the Channel Tunnel from the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission to the United Kingdom and French rail regulators; if so, by what date; and, if not, why not.

Baroness Kramer

The British and French Governments will move economic regulation of the Tunnel from the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) and its French equivalent, and put in place a charging framework by 31 March 2015. We are working with the French Government and anticipate that those commitments will be resolved by March next year. There are no plans to transfer railway safety from IGC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much Network Rail, the Department for Transport, First Great Western and Agility trains have each committed to contributing to the £7.5 billion Great Western route modernisation programme.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Contracts between the Department for Transport and Agility Trains and Great Western Rail are commercially confidential.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisations are contributing to the new bridge across the South Western Main Line south of Clapham Junction station giving access to Emanuel School, and how much they are each contributing.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Network Rail is an arm’s-length public sector body and the sources of funding contributions towards the construction of the new bridge are a commercial matter for the company.

Network Rail advises that the new bridge across the South West Mainline was privately funded by one organisation. Network Rail has signed a confidentially agreement with this organisation which does not allow the release of commercial information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the maximum gradients on the proposed HS2 line, and where they are located.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

In general the normal limiting gradient on the proposed HS2 line is 2.5%, which occurs at various locations along the route.

However, there are a few instances of steeper gradients where there are physical constraints that do not allow gradients of 2.5% or less to be achieved, namely:

– Between Euston Station and Euston Tunnels (3.4%)

– In the Euston Tunnels before Old Oak Common (3.5%)

– The east end of the Bromford Tunnel (2.9%)

– The approach to Birmingham Curzon St (3.03%)