Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made over-payments to bus operators under the Corovavirus Bus Service Support Grant.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As part of the terms and conditions of the Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG), operators are required to make use of existing COVID-19 related funding where possible.
The reconciliation process set out in the CBSSG guidance seeks to make operators no better or worse off than pre-Covid-19 levels, on their net costs of operating. The reconciliation process will take into account all revenues generated and costs incurred by operators while in receipt of CBSSG, including revenues and costs from both commercial and tendered services.
The Department will undertake reconciliation calculations to assess whether an overpayment of the scheme has occurred, and notify the relevant operator to make a repayment to DfT within 4 weeks of the conclusion of this calculation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to monitor the potential for over-payments to be made in relation to the Corovavirus Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG); and what processes his Department has put in place to recoup over-payments made in relation to the CBSSG.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As part of the terms and conditions of the Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG), operators are required to make use of existing COVID-19 related funding where possible.
The reconciliation process set out in the CBSSG guidance seeks to make operators no better or worse off than pre-Covid-19 levels, on their net costs of operating. The reconciliation process will take into account all revenues generated and costs incurred by operators while in receipt of CBSSG, including revenues and costs from both commercial and tendered services.
The Department will undertake reconciliation calculations to assess whether an overpayment of the scheme has occurred, and notify the relevant operator to make a repayment to DfT within 4 weeks of the conclusion of this calculation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the COVID Emergency Management Arrangements (EMA) with Train Operating Companies (TOC), what provisions are included in the EMA to ensure that TOCs are not in a financially advantageous position under the EMA than their financial performance under their franchise agreements in the months before the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) temporarily suspend the normal financial mechanisms of franchise agreements, transferring all revenue and cost risk to the government. Operators are required to continue to fulfil their obligations under the EMAs for a small, pre-determined management fee. Fees are set at a maximum of 2 per cent of the cost base of the franchise before the Covid-19 pandemic began, intended to incentivise operators to meet reliability, punctuality and other targets. The maximum fee attainable was set on the basis that it will be lower than the returns attainable in operator’s existing franchise agreements where they bore revenue risk.