Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on regional economies of job losses in aviation as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Transport is actively monitoring the impact on jobs in the aviation sector from Covid-19 at the national and regional level, with support from other government Departments. The unprecedented reduction in demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak means the aviation sector’s labour market has suffered a significant impact. The aviation sector and associated supply chain has seen a high uptake of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and tens of thousands of proposed redundancies, with impacts likely across the regions of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of rail fares reform in order to (a) reduce overcrowding, (b) better spread passenger demand throughout the day, (c) improve passenger perception of value for money and (d) increase the number of rail passenger journeys.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is committed to transforming our railways and building on the detailed, evidence based priorities Keith Williams set out. Covid-19 has had a clear impact across the sector and we are considering how best to deliver reform including fares reform in light of the unique challenges posed by Covid-19.
The Government recognises that Covid-19 has caused a fundamental change in working patterns and that this could have long-term effects on commuter behavior.
In order to support a green recovery and new working patterns, the Department is working with industry to explore options for flexible commuters, such as carnets, and what steps could be taken quickly to make these as useful and convenient for passengers as possible.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) rail fares reform and (b) different pricing for rail (i) leisure passengers, (ii) business passengers and (iii) commuters.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is committed to transforming our railways and building on the detailed, evidence based priorities Keith Williams set out. Covid-19 has had a clear impact across the sector and we are considering how best to deliver reform including fares reform in light of the unique challenges posed by Covid-19.
The Government recognises that Covid-19 has caused a fundamental change in working patterns and that this could have long-term effects on commuter behaviour. In order to support a green recovery and new working patterns, the Department is working with industry to explore options for flexible commuters, such as carnets, and what steps could be taken quickly to make these as useful and convenient for passengers as possible.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential for rail fares reform to increase the number of additional journeys that could be undertaken by rail; and if he will make an estimate of the number of those additional rail journeys that would be (a) new journeys, (b) taken by rail instead of (i) car and (ii) of air.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is committed to transforming our railways and building on the detailed, evidence based priorities Keith Williams set out. We want to create a railway that puts passengers first, where passengers know who is in charge, that delivers a fairer ticketing system and which delivers value for money.
Covid-19 has had a clear impact across the sector and we are considering how best to deliver reform including fares reform in light of the unique challenges posed by Covid-19.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the financial situation of regional airports.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the challenges facing the aviation sector as a result of Covid-19, and has engaged with airports on an ongoing basis to understand the impacts on their operational and financial positions. It is vitally important that key sectors such as aviation are protected, and we are working closely with the sector to this end.
Airports have been able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures the Government has put in place to support businesses through the pandemic. This includes a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, two business interruption loan guarantee schemes for different sizes of business, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals
However, if regional airports, or other businesses across the sector, still find themselves in severe and urgent financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 then we remain open to discussions about bespoke financial support as a last resort. Any intervention would need to be on terms to protect the interests of taxpayers.
We will continue to work with airports to understand their positions and to consider any future requests for bespoke support.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions there was significant disruption to East Coast Main Line services as a result of signal failures in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
In the 12 month period up to August 2019 there were three occasions on which signal failures on the East Coast Main Line caused more than 500 minutes of delay; one of these incidents caused more than 1,000 minutes of delay.