Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding was provided by his Department through the Deeds of Amendment signed with London and South Eastern Railway Ltd in (a) December 2016 and (b) September 2017.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has reviewed and concluded that this information is commercially sensitive and so cannot be shared.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Erith and Thamesmead constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019:
In the Erith and Thamesmead constituency, since 2012, approximately 5,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,180 employers have met their duties.
Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.
The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has withheld consent for Govia to vary the (a) pay and (b) conditions of Southeastern staff under schedule 15.2 of the franchise agreement in relation to the last twelve or thirteen months of the franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Southeastern and the trade unions have agreed pay deals in the last 12 months. Specific details of pay are confidential however Southeastern staff have received an increase of around the level of the Retail Price Index which reflects a real terms increase when compared to the Consumer Price Index and cost of living increases. These pay deals were approved by the Department.
The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department received a request from Govia to vary the pay and conditions of staff employed by Southeastern railway in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019.
Answered by Andrew Jones
During this period, pay has increased at around the level of the Retail Price Index.
The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements. The pay deals agreed with Southeastern staff during the last 12 months reflect a real terms increase when compared to the CPI and cost of living increases.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of extensions to the Southeastern Railway franchise on the pay and conditions of staff working for that franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
During this period, pay has increased at around the level of the Retail Price Index.
The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements. The pay deals agreed with Southeastern staff during the last 12 months reflect a real terms increase when compared to the CPI and cost of living increases.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to further extend the Southeastern Railway franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The South Eastern franchise competition is currently in the evaluation phase. The Department is working to achieve the best possible outcome for passengers and taxpayers. An announcement will be made in due course.
As the Secretary of State announced on 10 April 2019, the Department for Transport is currently in discussions with the incumbent operator to extend their operation of the franchise to 10 November 2019, with an extension period up to 1 April 2020 called at the Secretary of State’s discretion.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the outcome of the Southeastern Railway franchise competition.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The South Eastern franchise competition is currently in the evaluation phase. The Department is working to achieve the best possible outcome for passengers and taxpayers, an announcement will be made in due course
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation Bus Services Act 2017: accessible information which closed on 16 September 2018, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the requirement for all buses to have audio visual next stop and final destination announcements; and whether he plans to publish guidance on that matter.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government understands the importance of accessible on-board information in helping bus passengers to travel with confidence, and in Summer 2018 published a public consultation on proposals to require its provision on local bus services throughout Great Britain.
We continue to analyse responses to the consultation and expect to announce our next steps regarding the making of Regulations and publication of guidance later in the year.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) his Department has completed its evaluation of bids and (b) he has completed his consent relating to the tender for the Southeastern franchise; and whether his Department currently has credible live bids for that tender.
Answered by Andrew Jones
We are still in the evaluation phase of the competition. My Department wants to ensure that the franchise meets the needs of passengers and taxpayers and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the protocol is for the annual write-off of irrecoverable Dart Charge debts; and whether there is ministerial sign-off of those debts.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Irrecoverable cases have been written off in accordance with a defined set of agreed business rules which were reviewed and agreed with the National Audit Office as the auditing authority. Only cases that are assessed to be beyond likely recovery at economic cost are written off. The Minister does not formally approve the write-off of these cases but is required to review and approve the annual accounts prior to formal sign-off by Highways England’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Finance Officer.