Written Question
Wednesday 13th May 2020
Asked by:
Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to Her Majesty's Treasury of running train and bus services, under new arrangements put in place by the Government since the outbreak of COVID-19, in the month to 25 April, or until the latest date for which they can make an assessment.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government has approved £3.5 billion of additional expenditure to ensure that vital rail services continue to operate. From this additional expenditure, £2.9 billion relates to the 2020/21 financial year. It is not yet possible to provide an estimate of the total cost incurred to date.
In respect to bus services, the Government has made available up to £167 million of new funding over twelve weeks under the new COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG), of which over £7 million has been paid to local transport authorities and over £41 million to bus operators as of 12 May.
Written Question
Wednesday 13th May 2020
Asked by:
Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have requested, or required, reductions in executive remuneration, bonuses and other executive benefits in return for additional subsidies of train and bus operators to operate services granted since 1 March; if not, whether they intend to do so; and if so, what such reductions have been or will be.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
To bring stability and certainty to the industry during this turbulent time, private sector train operating companies have seen a temporary suspension of their existing franchise agreements’ financial mechanisms, and all revenue and cost risk has been transferred to the Government. Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) commenced on 1 April 2020 (effective as of 1 March 2020) for an initial period of six months.
Under the EMAs, whilst basic pay will continue at the same levels as before the EMAs were agreed, any bonuses, rewards or discretionary benefits paid to any staff, directors or officers under any schemes which have not previously been approved by the Secretary of State in writing, are viewed as a disallowable cost.
In relation to bus operators, the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG) is designed to help bus operators cover the costs of operating an appropriate service level during the COVID-19 period. Executive remuneration and payouts are a disallowable expense for the purposes of this grant scheme.
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 29 Apr 2020
Passenger Train Services
"Can we thank all the staff who are working on the railways through this crisis and putting special arrangements in place? Given that the business model of the franchise is of course bust now and is likely to remain so after the crisis, what is the Government’s thinking: to try …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
View all Lord Adonis (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Passenger Train Services
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 17 Mar 2020
Smart Motorways
"My Lords, can the Minister give the House the accident rate on smart motorways as opposed to conventional motorways?..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
View all Lord Adonis (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Smart Motorways
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 11 Mar 2020
HS2
"My Lords, yesterday was the 10th anniversary of my announcement of HS2 to the House. Taking account of what has happened in that period, Parliament and the country should be reasonably proud of the progress. This is the biggest infrastructure project that the country has engaged in since the Victorians. …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 11 Mar 2020
HS2
"My Lords, the noble Baroness is doing a good job of reading out the brief from the department. However, could she help us by telling us when she expects phase 2b will therefore be open?..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 25 Feb 2020
High Speed Rail (West Midlands– Crewe) Bill
"My Lords, I strongly support the Motion and join the Minister in paying tribute to noble Lords who have agreed to serve on the Select Committee. However, as she is aware, the extension of HS2 from Birmingham to Crewe—the phase 2a Bill we are talking about—is integrally linked to the …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
View all Lord Adonis (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: High Speed Rail (West Midlands– Crewe) Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 25 Feb 2020
High Speed Rail (West Midlands– Crewe) Bill
"Before the Minister sits down, I would be grateful for her further response. I note that “six months” has already become “the end of the year”, which is already a significant extension. She said that this review will be led by the Secretary of State for Transport, but we were …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
View all Lord Adonis (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: High Speed Rail (West Midlands– Crewe) Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 23 Jan 2020
High Speed 2 (Economic Affairs Committee Report)
"My Lords, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, when I was Secretary of State for Transport, they called me the “thin controller”. Whether or not that was true, I bear some responsibility for this scheme and should therefore participate in the debate.
My noble friend Lord Hollick referred to …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 23 Jan 2020
High Speed 2 (Economic Affairs Committee Report)
"My Lords, this is 330 miles-worth of line. If it could all be put in place in one phase, that would be great. However, setting up a project of that size all in one phase would carry huge risks. Again, I hesitate to keep pointing this out to the House, …..."Lord Adonis - View Speech
View all Lord Adonis (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: High Speed 2 (Economic Affairs Committee Report)