Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Schedule 1A (Section 7) of the Emergency Recovery Management Agreement, what steps her Department has taken since 2019 to ensure that Avanti West Coast fulfils its obligations to use all reasonable endeavours to avoid or mitigate the impact of any disruption to the Franchise services and has regard to the potential risk of shortages of appropriately skilled or qualified Franchise Employees.

Department officials continue to review and scrutinise Avanti West Coast's (AWC) performance and monitor the overall delivery of the contract for passengers.

Officials meet with AWC to interrogate the issues and challenges, particularly concerning traincrew availability and timetable recovery. Separately, the Department is considering AWC’s claim for contractual relief under Force Majeure provisions and what, if any, contractual implications apply.