Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government funds (a) travel concessions and (b) other benefits to (i) rail and (ii) bus travellers in England outside London.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
There are a number of national rail concessions in the form of railcards. Under Section 28(3) of the Railways Act 1993, train operating companies are required to participate in certain approved discount card schemes for young and student travellers, disabled passengers and those over 60.
In addition, recent introductions include the 16-17 Saver and 26-30 ‘millennial’ railcard to help young people, and in October we launched a new Veterans Railcard to help former servicemen and women.
Funding for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) for bus travel is provided to local authorities through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG’s) revenue support grant. This funding is not ringfenced, which enables local authorities to make spending decisions that more closely match local needs and circumstances.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the emergency funding provided to the national railways, whether he has asked Southern Railway to deliver an assessment of the effect of demand on sustainability, including modelling of medium-term service level requirements against possible demand scenarios after covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rail operators continue to assess local demand regularly to deliver the services passengers need. We continue to work closely with Govia Thameslink Railway (the operator of Southern services) as they develop future timetable proposals to make sure we strike the right balance between running the maximum levels of service that can be resourced reliably to meet demand and protecting taxpayers’ best interests.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has commissioned a Government-led expert review of the potential implementation of driverless trains in areas outside London.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In September, The Secretary of State asked the RSSB (formerly the Rail Safety Standards Board) to conduct a short study to examine the facts and evidence surrounding the potential application of GoA3 automated train operation (ATO) on the rail network in Great Britain. The study will, amongst other things, consider the technical and practical implications of implementing GoA3 ATO on the mainline rail network, where GoA3 ATO trains currently operate internationally, and whether they have been successful. RSSB’s report is expected to be published in the New Year.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has required Southern Railway to provide monthly management accounts and cashflow forecasts to be reviewed by his Department in response to the Office for National Statistics’s decision to classify train operating companies into the public sector.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department continues to request periodic management accounts and cashflow forecasts from all Train Operating Companies as per the underlying Franchise Agreements.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to appoint special representatives to attend all Southern Railway board meetings as a result of the decision by the Office for National Statistics to classify train operating companies into the public sector.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State does not plan to appoint special representatives to attend Southern Railway board meetings.
The classification of train operating companies by the Office for National Statistics does not have any direct implications in areas such as ownership, legal status, or management structure.
The Department continues to monitor the delivery of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) Franchise Agreement, which encompasses the Southern Railway brand.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the emergency funding provided to the railways, whether the Government plans to take steps to assess whether actual cumulative passenger revenue cash receipts by Southern Railway are in line with the expected cumulative scenario underpinning the original settlement for the second half of 2020-21.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department continues to monitor actual levels of passenger revenue through the submission of periodic management accounts from Govia Thameslink Railway, and the calculation of Franchise Payments is driven by the level of actual revenue received by the franchisee.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what formula was used to calculate the emergency funding given to Southern Railway to cover the period from (a) 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 and (b) 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Schedule 8.A of the Emergency Measures Agreement, outlines the calculation of Franchise Payments from 01 April 2020 – 21 September 2020. In addition, Schedule 8.1A of the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement outlines the Franchise Payments from 22 September 2020 onwards.
The Emergency Measures Agreement for Govia Thameslink Railway is publicly available, and the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement will be publicly available in due course.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2020 to Question 60669, what the difference is in frequency of the additional financial scrutiny of train operators and the two operators that are in direct public ownership under the Emergency Measures Agreements as compared to those undertaken periodically under existing Franchise Agreement obligations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) have introduced a formal process of budget reviews in each four-week rail period to enable additional financial scrutiny of operators. This is a new process to reflect the fact that the Government is bearing financial risk on almost all operator costs under the EMAs. This risk previously sat with the private operators. The two operators under direct public ownership are not under EMA provisions but follow similar requirements.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2020 to Question 60677 on railways: coronavirus, what restrictions have been placed on the payment of dividends to shareholders during the Emergency Measures Agreements term.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) prohibit the payment of dividends to shareholders during the six-month EMA term.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2020 to Question 60670 on railways: franchises, by what date his review of the approach to the contractual arrangements following the period in which the Emergency Measures Agreements apply will be completed; and where he plans to publish that review.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Operators that have entered into Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) will see a temporary suspension of their existing franchise agreement’s financial mechanisms for a period of six months.
The arrangements after the EMA period ends are being developed and will be announced in due course.