Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Thursday 12th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

2. What plans he has to improve services for passengers on Southeastern rail.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

We will launch the formal consultation on proposals for the new Southeastern franchise in February. I hope that people across the franchise area will participate in it, enabling my Department and the team working within the franchise to make informed decisions about the specification for the next franchise, particularly regarding how we expand capacity for passengers.

[Matthew Pennycook]

Not only are my constituents of all political persuasions disgusted by the manner in which the Secretary of State has politicised this issue, but they have absolutely no confidence in his proposed solution for the Southeastern franchise. A previous attempt to merely involve Transport for London in the design of Southern’s 2009 to 2015 franchise failed because that did not involve its proven concession model for suburban rail services, so can the Secretary of State tell us why on earth he thinks that repeating this failed approach will deliver much-needed improvements for Southeastern passengers?

Rail Infrastructure (Train Operating Companies)

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Tuesday 6th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend will know that where more enlightened train operators have invested and made improvements, it has paid dividends for them—Chiltern Railways is the obvious example. I hope that with more autonomy for the Network Rail team on the ground and autonomy for the private sector operators, they will look together at small schemes that will make a real difference to passengers and can be afforded within local budgets.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

Proposals to devolve rail services in London were championed by the Secretary of State’s predecessor, were underpinned by a solid business case, had cross-party support inside and outside London and, most important, were incredibly popular among passengers in London and Kent, who suffer daily at the hands of Southeastern and its unreliable and overcrowded services. Does the Secretary of State accept that his decision to take the proposal off the table today will be seen by those passengers as a betrayal of the hopes and expectations that were raised earlier this year by the Government?

[Chris Grayling]

No, I do not accept that. As I keep saying, the business plan submitted by the Mayor did not deliver extra capacity. I have invited Transport for London and Kent County Council to work alongside us on designing a franchise that maximises performance, takes advantage of any best practice we can learn from, and works for London and for Kent. Both are important.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Thursday 15th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Given the impending decision on runways, I am not going to set out any plans today. All I will say is that I have taken note of what the hon. Lady has said. Noise is of course a major issue for us.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that he supports his predecessor’s welcome announcement earlier in the year allowing Transport for London to take over Southeastern services when its franchise lapses in 2018?

[Chris Grayling]

My policy and the Government’s policy is that devolution should happen where it will make a difference, not simply for its own sake. I need to see the Mayor’s proposals about how he thinks he can enhance services in London—I am looking forward to seeing them—before I consider any changes.

Business of the House

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Thursday 25th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Of course it is always difficult when an individual change within an industry costs jobs or leads to closures, but the hon. Lady has to understand that under this Government rail freight has continued to grow, the rail network has continued to receive new investment, and for those in the rail industry there are perhaps more opportunities today than there have been for a very long time.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

Edward Paddon, the son of my constituents Fiona and Scott, was just nine days old when he died, in part as a result of group B streptococcus ascending infection. Instead of looking forward to what would have been Edward’s second birthday in a few months, his parents are campaigning so that others do not have to suffer as they have. May we have an urgent debate about what can be done to ensure consistent and accurate screening for group B strep so as to prevent any more avoidable deaths of newborn babies?

[Chris Grayling]

This is an important and sensitive issue on which there are many opportunities to bring forward debates through the Backbench Business Committee or the Adjournment debate system. As I should have mentioned earlier, we now have the largest petition we have yet seen calling for a debate on the Floor of the House relating to meningitis in childhood. I will be discussing it with the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee because I hope that that petition is debated on the Floor of the House, rather than in Westminster Hall.

Business of the House

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Thursday 21st January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend makes his point eloquently, but the key to this is that it is absolutely essential that people who come to live and work in this country speak English, and our communities have ended up more divided than they should be because of the fact that so many people who come here cannot speak English. That really has to change.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

We learned from the Evening Standard just over an hour ago that the Government intend to devolve local metro train services in London from the Department for Transport to Transport for London, something that was dismissed by the Leader of the House as renationalisation when I pressed him on it last year. In the light of that welcome decision, can we now find time for a debate on the details of the Government’s proposals, and in particular what can be done to compel operators like Southeastern, which will lose their franchises as a result, to improve their services in the interim?

[Chris Grayling]

Changes of this kind would be a matter for detailed discussion in this House. I have not seen what is in the Evening Standard so I cannot tell whether it is a rumour or otherwise. What I would say is if this Government are going to bring forward changes that affect Members of this House, we will set out details to them and listen to them.

Business of the House

Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Lord Grayling

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

It is a matter that would be very fitting for an Adjournment debate. There are many opportunities to bring Ministers to the House to discuss such matters, and I advise the hon. Gentleman to seek one of those opportunities.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

I receive complaints about late, cancelled or overcrowded Southeastern train services nearly every day. Given the importance of a reliable transport system for my constituents and other Londoners, will the Leader of the House find time for a debate on the merits of further devolution of local metro services from the Department for Transport to Transport for London?

[Chris Grayling]

We are investing a record amount in our rail system. The substantial growth in the number of passengers brings its own challenges, but they are challenges of success rather than failure. The one thing that we do not need to do is shake up the industry all over again through a renationalisation of the kind that the Labour party is currently advocating. If Labour Members honestly think that returning to the days of British Rail would be good for our transport system, heaven help us if we ever have a chance to see the country go down that route, because I think it would be disastrous for rail passengers.