Tag: Mary Creagh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) net franchise payment, (b) revenue support sum and (c) net subsidy are for the 22 month direct award of the northern franchise to Northern Rail Ltd.

Stephen Hammond

For the 22 month Northern franchise direct award there is no revenue support mechanism and there is a £632.7 million contracted subsidy over the full period of the franchise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Transport for London on the South East Flexible Ticketing scheme.

Stephen Hammond

As a key delivery partner for the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme, Transport for London are a signatory to the SEFT Memorandum of Understanding and have membership of the SEFT Programme Board. This is intended to ensure that their extensive experience of developing smart ticketing in London is fully utilised in delivering the SEFT programme.

TfL has therefore been fully involved in all significant discussions on the strategic direction, design and delivery of SEFT. Significant work has also been carried out with them to ensure that the scheme will interoperate properly with their existing infrastructure in central London, including system testing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which airports meet the eligibility criteria for the Regional Air Connectivity Fund; and how much each such airport has been awarded in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport is in detailed discussions with regional councils regarding two air routes that might qualify for support through a Public Service Obligation under financial provisions announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the 2013 Spending Round last July, to maintain regional air access to London. Of these, Dundee Council is currently tendering for an airline to operate a service between Dundee Airport and London.

The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that support will also be made available for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports. European Union aviation State aid guidelines allow for start-up aid to be provided under certain conditions to facilitate development of new routes from Member State airports which handle fewer than five million passengers per year.

The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance clarifying how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union State aid guidelines, and explain how the funding process will operate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the joint investment between his Department and First Great Western to fund additional standard class capacity and a refresh of first class is provided by his Department.

Stephen Hammond

At this stage, the amounts involved are commercially confidential, as private sector contractors are involved in undertaking the work on behalf of First Great Western. However, the basis on which the allocations have been made is equitable and reflects among other things the need for the public sector contribution to achieve value for money and to secure the Rail Investment Strategy imperative of improved standard class capacity on the Great Western route. The information about the amount borne by the Department to fund the standard class reseating in this joint investment will be provided once the works are completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each police force area have been caught speeding and received points on their driving licence in each of the last five years.

Damian Green

The maximum penalty for speeding is a fine of up to £1,000 and for speeding on a motorway, £2,500. The courts also have the power to disqualify the offender from driving and must in any event endorse the offender’s licence by between three and six penalty points. Alternatively, if the police decide that the nature of the offence was less serious, they may offer the motorist the opportunity to receive a fixed penalty notice instead of prosecution. If a fixed penalty is issued, the driver may instead chose to plead innocence or mitigating factors in court, and if convicted, any sentence will be decided within the maximum penalty limit and in line with sentencing guidelines.

The number of persons receiving endorsements only on their driving licence for speeding offences at all courts in England and Wales by police force area from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the attached table.

Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children there were in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire

Figures for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASCs) placed in Local Authority care are not available from published statistics.

In 2012 and 2013 there were 1,125 and 1,174 applications received from UASCs, excluding dependants.

Figures on a comparable basis are not available for previous years.

The Home Office publishes statistics on asylum applications from UASCs in tables as_08 and as_08_q (Asylum data tables Volume 2) of the release Immigration Statistics available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013

This release is available from the Library of the House.

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