Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate, if any, they have made of the number of deaths in England and Wales involving personnel deployed to provide roadside assistance and repairs services on A-roads and motorways in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not hold specific data on deaths involving personnel deployed to provide roadside assistance and repair services, as this information is not required when road accidents are reported to the police through the Stats19 accident reporting form.
The Department periodically reviews the data collection on personal injury road accidents reported to the police, in a process called Stats19 reviews. A Stats19 review started in autumn 2018 and is currently considering what amendments need to be made to the collection.
In making recommendations for change, the review considers evidence on the burden this would impose on the police to collect it for every accident, the practicality and likely quality of the data collected and potential benefits in building the road safety evidence base to save lives. We aim to consult on potential changes to the collection in 2020 following detailed engagement with the police and road safety organisations in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 22 March (HL14509), whether the details of the Secretary of State for Transport's diary for 4 March are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if so, why.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Any request made under the Freedom of Information Act would be carefully assessed on a case by case basis in light of the Act's statutory framework, including the consideration of relevant absolute or qualified exemptions. Hospitality, meetings with external parties and travel are published for all Ministers on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 13 March (HL14243), whether they will list the meetings conducted by the Secretary of State for Transport on 4 March with the times at which each such meeting took place.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
I refer to my previous answer of 13 March – the Secretary of State had a range of meetings with officials, Ministers, agencies and MPs on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 March.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which appointments and visits were arranged for the Secretary of State for Transport for (1) 4 March, and (2) 5 March.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Secretary of State had a range of meetings with officials, Ministers, agencies and MPs on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 March.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many passengers suffered delays and cancellations across the Southern railway network as a result of service failures on 2 July.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport does not make estimates of how many passengers are impacted by delays and cancellations.
Govia Thameslink Railway (which runs Southern services) has reported that, on Monday 2 July, 68% of Southern services arrived at their destination within five minutes of the schedule. A major cause of service disruption was a multiple signal failure between Wivelsfield and Hassocks.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the quality and timeliness of information for passengers produced on the Southern rail network following the failure of services on 2 July.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
It is the responsibility of the operator and Network Rail to ensure that passenger information is accurate and given in a timely manner. When operational incidents occur that cause service disruption, such as on 2nd July, the Department for Transport expects that information is provided to passengers as quickly as possible in order that they can make informed decisions.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to rail companies about the provision of rail replacement services in the event of a failure of train services.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport requires operators to use all reasonable endeavours to provide alternative transport arrangements. The franchise agreement sets expectations for the quality of any alternative service that should be offered to passengers.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to conduct a review of the relationship between Network Rail and rail franchising companies with an action plan to improve (1) services, and (2) provision of information to passengers.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government 2017 paper, Connecting People: A Strategic Vision for Rail, already sets out the specific actions that the government is taking to improve services to passengers, including closer working relationships between Network Rail and train operating companies, continuing high levels of investment and an improved experience for passengers.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is currently conducting two reviews into rail timetabling issues. As part of these reviews they are considering the roles played by the various participant parties in the rail sector, including Network Rail and franchise operators, in the provision of services and information about services to passengers. ORR will publish its conclusions and any recommendations in due course. Further information about the reviews is available on the ORR’s website: orr.gov.uk
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of compensation Southern and Govia Thameslink Railway expect to pay to passengers following the network failure on 2 July.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport has not made an estimate of the amount of compensation Southern, which is part of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) network, expects to pay for the disruption on Monday 2 July. GTR and the Department encourage passengers to claim the Delay Repay compensation for any delays over 15 minutes.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 18 June (HL8241), what steps, if any, they are taking to obtain from National Rail the level of compensation paid to Train Operating Companies for each year since 2010 to mitigate the loss of revenue in ticket sales.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Compensation is paid by Network Rail (NR) to Train Operating Companies for planned disruption on the network (Schedule 4 Payments) and, depending on the actual performance of both Network Rail and the train operator, Network Rail may pay compensation for unplanned disruption (Schedule 8 payments).
NR publish this information from 2011/12 at the link below under ‘Payments for disruption on the railway made under schedule 8’ and ‘Payments for planned disruption on the railway made under schedule 4 and the corresponding ACS’.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/transparency/datasets/
Please note that these values in these tables are based on the invoices Network Rail have received up until November 2017 and are therefore subject to change, as and when historic disputes are settled.
I attach those tables for ease.
For 2010/11 the figures can be found in Network Rail’s regulatory accounts at the link below under ‘Regulatory accounts archive 2002-2016’.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/publications-resources/financial/
For ease I have replicated the figures below:
Schedule 4 net cost in 2010/11 £128m
Schedule 8 net cost in 2010/11 £56m