Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to public expenditure of repatriating to the UK customers of Monarch Airlines; and what contribution to this cost they are seeking to reclaim from the airline's owners, investors, and associates.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
In October 2017, the Government estimated that the total cost of Monarch’s repatriation operation would be £60m. The actual cost of repatriation is estimated to be about £50m and the Government does not expect this number to change significantly.
As the administration of Monarch has yet to conclude, the Department continues to discuss contributions from the travel industry and the investors and estate of the company towards taxpayers costs.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of auctions to award rail franchises; and whether they intend to use the same process to award future franchises.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Williams Rail Review is looking at the current franchising system and considering how it can best support the public and private sector to work together, while delivering benefits for passengers, freight and taxpayers.
The Department will publish a White Paper on the review’s recommendations, with the implementation of reforms planned to start from 2020. Whilst the Review is underway, we will continue to work closely with the industry to ensure that rail delivers the day-to-day performance and transformational improvements that passengers expect.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who were the external advisers appointed to conduct due diligence on Seabourne Freight and that company’s owners and management in advance of the Government entering into a contract with that firm; what was the scope of that work; and how much was paid in fees for such work.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The advisers concerned are Slaughter & May (legal advice), Deloitte UK (financial advice) and Mott MacDonald (technical assurance). The contracts remain live, so it is not yet possible to determine the total of fees paid.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have consulted the road logistics and shipping industry on any contingency plans for cross channel shipping in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government is discussing a range of contingency planning issues with industry, including the road logistics and shipping sectors.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of UK lorry drivers available for the onward transport of goods arriving at UK ports in their contingency plans for cross channel shipping in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The availability of UK-based lorry drivers is a relevant consideration when considering any potential switch from accompanied to unaccompanied freight, and the Government is taking this into account in its planning work.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of alternative UK ports to accommodate traffic currently carried through Dover in their contingency plans for cross channel shipping in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department is undertaking a range of analysis to understand the transport implications of various scenarios, and to support the Department’s contingency planning.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in (1) seeking recovery of the costs incurred in repatriating customers of Monarch Airlines to the UK, and (2) their negotiations with Greybull and its associates, the owners of the airline, in contributing to repayment to tax payers.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
I refer the noble Lord back to my previous response to his question on 25 April 2018 (HL7119). We are seeking to recover costs of the operation from several third parties, however a final position on cost recoveries is unlikely to be known until the completion of the administration, which may take several months. We are, of course, determined to ensure that as much of taxpayers’ money is recovered as possible.
The administrator, KPMG, has since published a progress report for the administration of Monarch Airlines Limited, which is freely available from http://www.insolvency-kpmg.co.uk. This report provides an interim update, which will inform our ongoing negotiation with Greybull.
We will in due course be able to report back with more detail.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in negotiations to secure contributions to the cost of repatriating stranded passengers of Monarch airlines from related parties of the airline, including Greybull Capital.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are focused on making sure that there is clear burden sharing of the repatriation operation, and are seeking to recover costs of the operation from several third parties. This process is ongoing and a final position on cost recoveries is unlikely to be known until the completion of the administration, which may take several months. We will in due course be able to report back with more detail.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Transport has the capacity to restrict or ban (1) companies, (2) individuals, and (3) associates, from bidding for rail franchises.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport may suspend or withdraw a Passport in the event that the Passport holder, a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the Passport Holder triggers certain requirements within the Passport application. This would restrict or remove The Passport Holder from the bidding for Franchise competitions. The details of the Passport process are set out in the Department’s published documentation, Rail Franchising: Passport Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, a copy of which is attached and will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses (sections B and C pages 13-26 are most relevant).
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 5 December 2017 (HL3455), whether they have now established a more refined figure for the costs of repatriation to the UK of customers of Monarch airlines.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are not yet able to give a final figure for the costs of the repatriation operation as we are awaiting invoices from third parties. In line with the usual transparency guidelines on government expenditure and financial reporting the absolute full and final position will be made clear in the annual accounts for the department, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Air Travel Trust (ATT), which should be published in June 2018.
At this stage, the current forecasts suggest that the total cost of the repatriation operation remain broadly in line with the original estimate of around £60m. As explained in my written answer on 5 December 2017 (HL3455), we are focused on making sure that there is clear burden sharing of the repatriation operation, and are seeking to recover costs of the operation from third parties. We will in due course be able to report back with more detail.