Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to end the Trans Pennine Express contract in May 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department in partnership with Transport for the North will make an announcement in due course.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trend in the level of bus driver vacancies.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The most recent Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) estimate is that almost 1 in 10 bus driver positions in the UK were vacant in September 2022. Findings from CPT’s most recent driver shortage run in February are expected to be known shortly.
In November 2022, the Department and CPT co-chaired a Bus and Coach Driver Summit to understand and address the issues causing driver shortages. Following the Bus and Coach Driver Summit, the Department has been working with CPT to take forward the actions identified at the summit.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the costs of (a) indemnifying train companies from losses on strike days and (b) meeting rail workers' union's pay demands.
Answered by Huw Merriman
No compensation has been paid by the Department to train operators to cover lost revenue due to strike action. Under the terms of the operator agreements put in place since the onset of COVID, the Government is on revenue risk not operators and hence operators are not financially affected by any fluctuations in revenue.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to give the Civil Aviation Authority power to directly fine airlines who break consumer law.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government consulted, as part of the Aviation Consumer Policy Reform Consultation in 2022, on whether the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) should be given additional administrative powers to enforce consumer protections laws. It is reviewing the responses to the consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 Dec 2022 to Question 111701 on Train Operating Companies: Investment Income, if he will publish this information with companies' names redacted.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department for Transport does not intend to publish details of such payments to train operating companies with company names redacted, as ultimately values could still be attributed back to individual companies which would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any performance-related fees will be paid to Avanti West Coast for the six month period from April 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Under both the previous and current operator contracts the operator receives a fixed fee and can earn a performance-based fee. Performance is independently evaluated against set criteria and considers all elements within the operator's control. The Performance Based Fee for the period covering 1 April 2022 to 16 October 2022 is currently under review. At this stage of the process, it would be improper to comment on the outcome of that independent evaluation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what target for reducing cancellations has his Department set for Avanti West Coast as part of the deal for keeping that rail contract.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department has been clear that the service for passengers on the West Coast is not good enough. Ministers and officials meet Avanti and First Trenitalia senior management regularly to review Avanti’s progress against its service restoration plan, holding them accountable for matters within their control. The recent short-term contract extension allows Avanti an opportunity to deliver a reliable timetable for passengers. The Department will consider its performance, including the number of cancelations attributable to Avanti, before making any long-term decision on the operation of the route.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a breakdown of how many dividend payments by rail companies have been authorised by his Department in each year since 2019; and the value of those dividends.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department does not publish a list of approved dividend payments or applications under consideration as it considers that publication of this information would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to incentivise the take up of electric vehicles in the context of changes to Vehicle Excise Duty in the Autumn Statement 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
From 2025, electric vehicles will still have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles, in addition to having preferential rates of company car tax out to April 2028.
The UK has one of the most ambitious programmes of any country in the world to phase out the sale of internal combustion engine cars and vans by 2030. The UK was the first G7 country to make this commitment, demonstrating a real environmental benefit of Brexit.