Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 10th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

My hon. Friend is right, and he has been to see me to make representations, with a number of people from the council and from Shrewsbury itself. It is right that this is taken forward by the LEP. Funding for the major LEP schemes has been set aside and was agreed as part of the spending review. Details on how to bid to the fund will be announced shortly.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

With no news on the privately financed electrification of the line between Selby and Hull, and with yesterday’s announcement on the TransPennine franchise failing to give additional services to Hull for city of culture 2017 and providing only refurbished, not new, trains, can the Secretary of State understand why people in Hull were rather taken aback by the comments of the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) on “Look North” when he said that investment in northern transport is about to overtake that of the south? Do not those words show that the Under-Secretary is away with the Christmas fairies?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I do not know whether I would want to go into Christmas fairies so far as the current Labour party is concerned, as Labour Members might be seeing fairies in many places. I believe that the Department for Transport has been helpful to Hull in its preparations for the city of culture, not least with the improvements at Hull station and the proposals I have worked on with the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) to ensure that the footbridge project is brought forward much more quickly to provide access to the Hull dockside. I am sorry that the hon. Lady cannot welcome that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 29th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T8. In an earlier answer, the Minister referred to linking up the great cities of the north, but again did not refer to Hull. Given that we have had the pausing and the unpausing of the electrification of several routes, when will the Secretary of State give the green light to the privately financed initiative to electrify the line all the way to Hull?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I do apologise to the hon. Lady. I am at a slight disadvantage because of your rulings, Mr Speaker, because if I were to mention all the great cities in the north, I would be ruled out of order.

[Diana Johnson]

There are not that many.

[Mr McLoughlin]

Well, I think there are a number of great cities in the north. I am very proud of those cities, but if I named them all, I would get into trouble. I fully accept what the hon. Lady says about the importance to Hull, which is why I have been able to move forward with some of the infrastructure investment for the A63, which is very important for her area. As for the extra money we gave to take the scheme that she is talking about up to GRIP 2, I am awaiting further reports on that particular scheme.

Network Rail

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 25th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments about Sir Peter Hendy. My hon. Friend the rail Minister needs no encouragement from my hon. Friend or anybody else to keep up the pressure on those services.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

What does pausing trans-Pennine electrification mean for the privately funded initiative put forward to electrify the line from Selby to Hull—which was, of course, missed out in his Department’s original plans?

Transport

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Ministerial Corrections

[Mr McLoughlin]

The hon. Gentleman asks a number of questions. I will try to answer them all. The new franchises I am issuing have changed the way in which compensation is awarded, and they are a great improvement on those awarded by the previous Government. He also asked me about bus replacement services. If he wants us to carry out improvements on the network, alternatives have to be made available. I accept that our changes and improvements are an issue, but we are investing a record £38 billion in the railways between 2014 and 2019.



An error has been identified in the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson).

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

After the Christmas shambles, I was pleased to see that the chief executive of Network Rail voluntarily said that he would not take his bonus of £34,000. Has the Secretary of State considered introducing performance-related pay for rail bosses, in the same way as his Government advocate it for teachers?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I do not think I will take too many lessons from the Labour party about bonuses. In 2009-10, the bonuses paid to Network Rail were £2.3 billion; this year, it was going to be £260,000. I think there should be carrots and sticks, and, if the criteria set are met, a bonus is a way of rewarding the people directly involved in providing services.

[Official Report, 5 January 2015, Vol. 590, c. 36.]

The correct response should have been:

Rail Network (Disruption)

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Monday 5th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the valiant campaign he has led to ensure that he gets faster train services to his constituency, pointing out how important they are for his city. I hope to be able to improve on his campaign so that he gets the services that are wanted for the constituency.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

After the Christmas shambles, I was pleased to see that the chief executive of Network Rail voluntarily said that he would not take his bonus of £34,000. Has the Secretary of State considered introducing performance-related pay for rail bosses, in the same way as his Government advocate it for teachers?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 4th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T3. In light of the Chancellor making much of the northern powerhouse yesterday—but of course forgetting to mention Hull—when will the Secretary of State make a positive announcement about the privately financed scheme to electrify the line to Hull?

[Mr McLoughlin]

Yesterday my right hon. Friend the Chancellor made a number of announcements—indeed, he was criticised by some for putting too much in those announcements. As the hon. Lady will remember, I provided the money to move that scheme up to the next stage on the guide to rail investment process some time ago, and I await the outcome of that work.

Road Investment Strategy

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

There are certain places where the Transport Secretary treads with some peril, and I think that answering that question on VAT rates and different businesses might be one of them.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I did not hear any announcement about investment in roads in Hull. If the Secretary of State is really serious about investing in transport infrastructure, when will he make the announcement about the privately financed electrification of the line to Hull, which we need desperately?

[Mr McLoughlin]

If memory serves me correctly, I have made some announcements on Castle street, which runs through the centre of Hull, and on meeting the local enterprise partnership to talk abut definite improvements. I think that I also announced at Transport questions a few weeks ago an increase in the GRIP—governance for railway investment projects—funding to look at the whole process for electrification. I think that we have made more progress on delivering infrastructure in Hull than was made in any number of years when it was represented by a number of distinguished other people.

Flooding: Transport Disruption

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 13th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I would like to look into the very valid points that my right hon. Friend has made and the particular cases to which he is referring.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State satisfied that rail passengers in particular are being kept up to date with information about travel disruption? If he is not, what more can be done?

[Mr McLoughlin]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. I have asked the train operating companies to do a lot more on the social media network, which they are doing. One of the frustrating aspects of this situation for people is trying to get information. A lot of people who use the railways do not use social media, and there is a difficulty there, but we are trying to make as much information available as we possibly can.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Thursday 7th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

Indeed, and when I was in my hon. Friend’s constituency in the summer I was made very much aware of the desire for that line to be electrified. One great thing that has happened in the railways is that the constant request of any Secretary of State now is for more services and better services. That just shows how important the railways are now to our national life, and I will look at the case he makes.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State tell me why under the current arrangements the electrification of the route to Hull will stop at Selby, which, as I am sure he knows, is several miles short of Hull? Will he do everything he can to support the Hull trains proposal to extend the electrification to Hull?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I could point out to the hon. Lady how much of the line was electrified by the previous Labour Government in 13 years: 10 miles, as opposed to the 880 miles that we are planning to electrify as part of our commitment to the railways. She is making yet another case for further electrification of an important line and I shall certainly look at the case again in detail.

Rail Franchising

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Diana Johnson

Tuesday 26th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am sure I will hear a lot more about the Ivanhoe line from my hon. Friend. I am pleased that she welcomes the opening of the station at Ilkeston, along with the other two stations I have announced today. There will be further work on that, but she is right: the fact that I, as Transport Secretary, have appeared at the Dispatch Box today is a reflection of Members wanting more services. That is why it is so important that we get the investment levels right and the train companies operating the kind of services passengers want.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Can the Secretary of State confirm that the open access slot on the east coast main line will still be available to services such as Hull Trains and will not be rolled up in any franchise tender document?

[Mr McLoughlin]

Yes.