Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the contractor is required to have a plan for good industrial relations under the terms of the contract between SE Trains Ltd and Churchill Group.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the contractor is obliged to provide regular reports in respect of an equalities action plan under the terms of the contract between SE Trains Ltd and Churchill Group.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish correspondence between his Department and the directors of Southeastern Trains Ltd in respect of the dispute between sub-contracted cleaning staff and Churchill Group.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), if requested, the Department will consider whether it is able and appropriate to publish relevant correspondence between the Department and South East Trains with regards to any issues.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the cleaning contract between Churchill group and Southeastern Trains Ltd expires.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The contract between South East Trains and Churchill’s is currently scheduled to expire on the 13th of October 2024, with break clauses to allow the contract to be ended early if necessary.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether all members of the Board of Southeastern Trains Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OLR DfT Holdings Ltd, are entitled to (a) free rail travel or (b) rail staff travel facilities.
Answered by Wendy Morton
SE Trains Ltd board members are entitled to free rail travel on the SE Trains Ltd network during working hours. The Managing Director of SE Trains Ltd, who is also a board member, is also entitled to free rail travel and rail staff travel facilities at all times. One SE Trains Ltd board member is also entitled to free rail travel and rail staff travel facilities on other services, as a result of employment benefits obtained before assuming their role at SE Trains Ltd.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the salaries of the (a) Managing Director, (b) Finance Director and (c) Company Director of Southeastern Trains Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OLR DfT Holdings Ltd.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Salary details for South East Train’s Directors are expected to be published in Southeastern Train’s Annual Accounts by 31 December 2022 in compliance with the company’s statutory requirements.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any of the directors of Southeastern Trains Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OLR DfT Holdings, are also employed in other jobs.
Answered by Wendy Morton
One member of the SE Trains Ltd board does have non-executive roles outside of SE Trains Ltd that results in renumeration.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings members of the Board of Southeastern Trains Ltd have held with Churchill Group since the industrial dispute regarding railway cleaners with Churchill began on the Southeastern contract.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The South East Train’s Engineering Director met with Churchill’s Senior Team on 4 February 2022 to discuss their current pay arrangements, the upcoming industrial action, and Churchill’s contingency planning for industrial action. A follow-up meeting is planned for Friday 11 March.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether under the terms of the contract between Southeastern Trains Ltd and Churchill Group the contractor continues to be paid if cleaning is disrupted by industrial action.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department uses when determining the length of time travellers are granted to return to the UK before a country is moved to (a) amber or (b) red list.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The government has been clear that given the spread of the virus globally, people should not travel to amber or red list countries.
Changes to the traffic light system are implemented as quickly as possible, balancing the public health risks posed by those countries and the time required to operationalise changes at the border. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we are guided by the latest scientific evidence.