Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of annual write-offs have related to penalty charges not issued on a timely basis since the introduction of the Dart Charge in November 2014.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Since 2015/16, Highways England (HE) have been required to record estimated revenue loss in respect of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) not issued when they should have been. These figures are included within the annual accounts and are tabled below. In respect of 2018/19, this information will be available once the accounts are published in January 2020.
2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
£8.8m | £2.0m-£4.0m | £0.4m-£3.0m |
Source: Dartford & Thurrock River Crossing Accounts 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the level of annual Dart Charge (a) road user charge and (b) enforcement write-offs in respect of the Dartford-Thurrock river crossing since the introduction of the Dart Charge in November 2014.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The table below sets out the annual position as published within the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing annual accounts, as well as the cumulative total. It should be noted that no Penalty Charge Notice cases were formally written off in 2014/15 - the write-off would have materialised in 2015/16. In respect of 2018/19, this information will be available once the annual accounts are published in January 2020.
£m | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | Total |
a. RUC | 0.0 | 0.5 | 6.2 | 4.5 | 11.1 |
b. PCN’s | 0.0 | 10.3 | 42.4 | 38.5 | 91.2 |
Total | 0.0 | 10.7 | 48.7 | 43.0 | 102.4 |
Source: Dartford & Thurrock River Crossing Accounts 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason is the award of the South Eastern rail franchise delayed; what the revised timetable is for that award; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department continues to make progress evaluating bids for the South Eastern franchise. The Department will make an announcement on the intention to award in due course.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations are (a) staffed and (b) unstaffed.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department for Transport does not collect this information as station staffing is a matter for operators. They are not required to inform us of which stations are staffed beyond the obligations as set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
We regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement and a list of which stations have open ticket offices by operator can be seen at http://www.atoc.org/about-atoc/rail-settlement-plan/governance/ (Schedule 17 July 2015).
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway station ticket offices have (a) been closed and (b) had their opening hours reduced since 2010.
Answered by Claire Perry
Since May 2010, 125 railway station ticket offices have had their hours reduced and four have been closed.
By contrast, between 2005 and 2010 around 400 railway station ticket offices had their hours reduced and six closures were approved.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway station ticket offices that will be closed by (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement protects the opening hours of Ticket Offices. If an operator wishes to make such changes to Ticket Office opening times, there is an industry process to follow.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway stations that will be unstaffed in (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Claire Perry
Station staffing levels are a matter for operators. Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of staffing of railway stations on (a) passenger safety, (b) passenger assurance, (c) safety of women passengers, (d) disabled passengers, (e) revenue protection and (f) passenger assistance.
Answered by Claire Perry
Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. However, it is important that those who need assistance to travel can rely on railway staff to provide this. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows disabled passengers to book staff assistance when they require it.
We recognise that passengers can feel very strongly about station staffing hours and we expect all operators to take on board the views of stakeholders before taking any proposal to change such hours forward.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the all day public performance measure (PPM) of punctuality was for London and South East Railway Limited's franchised rail passenger services in each month since March 2010; and what the national average PPM was in each such month.
Answered by Claire Perry
This information is published by Network Rail. Since March 2010, the monthly PPM for the London and South East Railway, and the national average per month can be seen below
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the levels of (a) total public subsidy, (b) premium payments to his Department from the train operator, (c) Network Grant, (d) passenger revenue and (e) revenue support during the life of the contract directly awarded by his Department to London and South East Railway Limited for rail passenger services on the South Eastern line to June 2018.
Answered by Claire Perry
The estimates made with regard to the levels of (a) total public subsidy can be seen in the tables below. The yearly figures have been rounded, hence the Total Period estimate appears greater than the sum of yearly figures.
Actual figures for (a) total public subsidy during the life of the contract directly awarded by his Department to London and South East Railway Limited for rail passenger services on the South Eastern line to June 2018 will be published on the Office of Rail Regulation’s (‘ORR’) website at http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/1 at a later date.
The estimate of (b) premium payments to his Department from the train operator during the life of the contract directly awarded by his Department to London and South East Railway Limited for rail passenger services on the South Eastern line to June 2018 is nil.
Within the Franchise agreement there are 3 bands of profit sharing. Should LSER reach the 1st band and each subsequent band, monies are paid to the DfT; each band reached results in an increase in payment to the DfT.
With regard to (c) Network Grant, this is paid directly to Network Rail, not the train operators.
The estimate of (d) passenger revenue during the life of the contract directly awarded by his Department to London and South East Railway Limited for rail passenger services on the South Eastern line to June 2018 is commercially sensitive and cannot be published.
The ORR have recently started to publish actual passenger income by Train Operator, and this can be found on their website, http://orr.gov.uk/publications/publications-a-z?search=G, titled ‘GB Rail Industry Financial Information’, and is published by year.
The estimate made with regard to the levels of (e) revenue support during the life of the contract directly awarded by his Department to London and South East Railway Limited is nil.