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Written Question
Railways: Pensions
Thursday 5th November 2020

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with the general secretaries of the trade unions which represent workers in the railway sector about the Railways Pension Scheme.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMG has had contact with the rail trade unions’ General Secretaries regarding the Railways Pension Scheme, but at present has no future plans for discussion.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 16 Mar 2015
Transport for London Bill [Lords]

Speech Link

View all Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Transport for London Bill [Lords]

Written Question
HM Coastguard: Stornoway
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in February 2015.

Answered by John Hayes

The new flexible shift patterns and the ability for areas covered by the new HM Coastguard structure to be handled by any Coastguard within it mean workload is managed nationally rather than on a centre by centre basis. This enables HM Coastguard to proactively match available staff across the whole network to its busiest areas and times, both daily and seasonally.

Therefore, it is more relevant to consider the total number of Coastguards available on the growing national network.

As of 6 March this network, and the benefits it delivers, stretches from Beachy Head to the Mull of Galloway. The transition of the national network around the United Kingdom will be complete by December 2015.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at the current individual centres err strongly on the side of caution. As each centre joins the evolving national network, the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant.

Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.

Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during February 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 23 occasions out of 56 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 15 occasions out of 56 shifts.


Written Question
HM Coastguard: Belfast
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in February 2015.

Answered by John Hayes

The new flexible shift patterns and the ability for areas covered by the new HM Coastguard structure to be handled by any Coastguard within it mean workload is managed nationally rather than on a centre by centre basis. This enables HM Coastguard to proactively match available staff across the whole network to its busiest areas and times, both daily and seasonally.

Therefore, it is more relevant to consider the total number of Coastguards available on the growing national network.

As of 6 March this network, and the benefits it delivers, stretches from Beachy Head to the Mull of Galloway. The transition of the national network around the United Kingdom will be complete by December 2015.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at the current individual centres err strongly on the side of caution. As each centre joins the evolving national network, the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant.

Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.

Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during February 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 23 occasions out of 56 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 15 occasions out of 56 shifts.


Written Question
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average length of time was for the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch to publish a report into the causes of maritime accidents or incidents in each year from 1990 to date.

Answered by John Hayes

MAIB reports are published at the earliest opportunity to ensure that safety lessons can be applied as soon after an accident as possible. All investigations are different with complex cases requiring more time, so average reporting times can be misleading. The recent grounding of the Hoegh Osaka in the Solent, and the tragic loss of eight seafarers when the Cemfjord sank in the Pentland Firth are two recent examples that demonstrate this. Where urgent safety lessons are identified at any time during an investigation the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents can issue a Safety Bulletin containing recommendations.

The average length of time between the date of the accident to the date of the publication of MAIB’s report for each of the years is:

1990

No accident investigation reports published

1991

25.5 months

1992

17.3 months

1993

16.5 months

1994

21 months

1995

16.3 months

1996

16.9 months

1997

16.9 months

1998

18.8 months

1999

10.1 months

2000

11.4 months

2001

10.3 months

2002

11.9 months

2003

10.4 months

2004

7.1 months

2005

10.2 months

2006

8.2 months

2007

8.6 months

2008

8 months

2009

8.5 months

2010

8.7 months

2011

8.9 months

2012

9.3 months

2013

10.8 months

2014

10.1 months

2015

to date

10.7 months


Written Question
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch plans to report on the accidents or incidents involving the (a) Nagato Reefer, (b) Dieppe Seaways, (c) Commodore Clipper, (d) St. Helen, (e) Pride of Canterbury, (f) Dover Seaways, (g) Cemfjord and (h) Hoegh Osaka vessels; and how many investigators are working on each such investigation.

Answered by John Hayes

Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) reports vary in their complexity and consequently the time taken for them to be completed. At the moment, projected publication dates for the reports of these eight investigations are:

a. Nagato Reefer – April 2015

b. Dieppe Seaways – June 2015

c. Commodore Clipper – August 2015

d. St Helen – July 2015

e. Pride of Canterbury – August 2015

f. Dover Seaways – July 2015

g. Cemfjord – end 2015

h. Hoegh Osaka – end 2015

MAIB investigations are conducted by teams that will vary in size and specialism according to the nature of the accident. Typically, two or three inspectors are deployed in the early stages of an investigation, with one having responsibility for leading the team and for producing the published report.


Written Question
HM Coastguard: Belfast
Tuesday 24th February 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

Answered by John Hayes

Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.

Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.


Written Question
HM Coastguard: Stornoway
Tuesday 24th February 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

Answered by John Hayes

Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.

Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.


Written Question
Railways: Scotland
Monday 26th January 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 65 of the report of the Smith Commission, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give the Scottish Government discretion to decide whether or not to tender for rail services for which it is responsible.

Answered by Claire Perry

In respect of Paragraph 65 of the report of the Smith Commission, legislative proposals are being brought forward by Government to unlock such existing executive functions that the Scottish Ministers have as “appropriate franchising authority” and “appropriate designating authority” to allow public sector operators to become franchisees in respect of Scotland-only services.


Written Question
Wrecks: Scotland
Monday 19th January 2015

Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to contact the families of the seafarers serving on the bulk carrier Cemfjord; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Hayes

The Department has had no direct contact with the families of the seafarers serving on the Cemfjord. There were no Britons among its crew. The crew’s next of kin are being kept informed of developments in the investigation through the ship’s owner. Nevertheless, we will ensure that any information that becomes known is made available.