Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what salaries will be paid to (1) the chief executive of the new public East Coast rail operator, and (2) the next four most highly paid executives.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Remuneration packages for the Board of London North Eastern Railway will be published in due course as part of the normal disclosures in the company annual accounts.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there will be a chairman of the new public East Coast company; and if so, who they propose for this post.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Robin Gisby is the new Chair of London North Eastern Railway.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the top five executives of the current Virgin Trains East Coast company will transfer to the public East Coast rail operator when it assumes responsibility; and if not, what staffing changes, if any, they propose.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
All staff who currently have an employment contract with Virgin Trains East Coast, including the Executive Directors, fall within the scope of the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employee Regulations (TUPE). Under TUPE, all staff have been offered the opportunity to transfer to London North Eastern Railway (LNER).
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) staff, and (2) consultants, at the Department for Exiting the European Union are paid salaries in excess of £140,000; and to what posts those salaries apply.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Exiting the European Union can confirm that 1 member of staff is paid more than £140,000. A central list of all individuals within Government earning a total pay package of £150,000 and above is published on data.gov.uk website, this includes details of roles undertaken. Details of DExEU Board members pay is available in the Remuneration Report in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which is made publicly available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2016-17.
The Department does not have access to the salaries consultants are paid by their respective companies.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) staff, and (2) consultants, at the Department for International Trade are paid salaries in excess of £140,000; and to what posts those salaries apply.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
Information on high earning staff (£150,000 and above) in the Civil Service is in the public domain, accessible via the transparency data reports on gov.uk. The most recent version is the senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693864/_150k_2017_Master_for_publication_March_18_update.csv/preview
The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not have any staff paid more than £140,000 but less than £150,000.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) has one member of staff paid more than £140,000 but less than £150,000, in the post of Director of Business Group.
The Department does not hold information on the pay received by individual consultants from their employing company.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is any conflict of interest between the duties of the chair and deputy chair of Ofcom as impartial regulators of the BBC and their parliamentary duties including their voting record on Brexit.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
All candidates for public appointments go through a fair and open process as set out in the governance code for public appointments. Candidates must disclose any conflicts of interest upon applying and are questioned on these at interview. Successful candidates must then comply with the code of conduct for board members of public bodies. Both Lord Burns and Baroness Noakes complied with the requirements as set out in these codes. Members of the Ofcom Board are required to maintain a register of members' disclosable interests which is published on the Ofcom website.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether minutes of meetings of the Ofcom board record any declarations of conflicts of interest on the part of the chair and deputy chair; and if so, what are the dates of those meetings and the nature of the conflicts declared.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
All candidates for public appointments go through a fair and open process as set out in the governance code for public appointments. Candidates must disclose any conflicts of interest upon applying and are questioned on these at interview. Successful candidates must then comply with the code of conduct for board members of public bodies. Both Lord Burns and Baroness Noakes complied with the requirements as set out in these codes. Members of the Ofcom Board are required to maintain a register of members' disclosable interests which is published on the Ofcom website.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the board of Ofcom has been notified of any conflicts of interest on the part of the chair and deputy chair of Ofcom; and if so, what are those conflicts of interest.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
All candidates for public appointments go through a fair and open process as set out in the governance code for public appointments. Candidates must disclose any conflicts of interest upon applying and are questioned on these at interview. Successful candidates must then comply with the code of conduct for board members of public bodies. Both Lord Burns and Baroness Noakes complied with the requirements as set out in these codes. Members of the Ofcom Board are required to maintain a register of members' disclosable interests which is published on the Ofcom website.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what policies are in place to avoid conflicts of interest between the role of the chair and deputy chair of Ofcom and their participation in the House of Lords.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
All candidates for public appointments go through a fair and open process as set out in the governance code for public appointments. Candidates must disclose any conflicts of interest upon applying and are questioned on these at interview. Successful candidates must then comply with the code of conduct for board members of public bodies. Both Lord Burns and Baroness Noakes complied with the requirements as set out in these codes. Members of the Ofcom Board are required to maintain a register of members' disclosable interests which is published on the Ofcom website.
Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which delays by Network Rail undertaking infrastructure improvements on the East Coast Main Line were a legitimate basis for the existing East Coast franchise operator to seek to reduce premium payments contracted under that franchise; and by what amount that franchise will be reduced in each year until 2023.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The East Coast franchise was awarded to Virgin Trains East Coast following a fair and open competition and has already delivered significant passenger benefits. The Operator has met its obligations to date to provide premium payments to HM Government as contracted. The contract includes an enhanced East Coast timetable from May 2020 - reflecting the anticipated Network Rail enhancements to the line - and a process for revising premium payments from that date if the Operator, despite its best efforts, is unsuccessful in obtaining all the rights it needs. The exact adjustments to the premium depend on the extent of the enhanced services which the Operator is able to run from May 2020.
From 2020 we intend to let the East Coast Partnership as one of the first of a new generation of integrated regional rail operations. This will be subject to a competitive process, and will include appropriate contributions paid from the private partner to the government. It is therefore not possible to specify what amount the current East Coast franchise will be reduced in each year until 2023, as it will be superseded by the East Coast Partnership.