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Written Question
Railways: North East
Monday 17th July 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the potential closure of train station ticket offices in Middlesbrough on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in the North East.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.

Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.


Written Question
Shipping: Cyprus
Tuesday 7th March 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum of understanding that his Department agreed with the Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry on 21 February 2023.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Memorandum of Understanding signed on 21 February is a non-binding maritime co-operation agreement between the Department for Transport and the Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry. I have placed a copy of the MoU in the Libraries of both houses.


Written Question
Shipping: Conditions of Employment
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve seafarer (a) pay and (b) employment conditions on vessels which provide regular shipping services from UK (i) ports and (ii) Freeports but fall out of scope of the measures in the Seafarers Wages Bill and are not covered by collective bargaining agreements with the maritime trade unions.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department with input from industry and maritime trade unions is developing the voluntary Seafarers’ Charter to improve working conditions for seafarers. The charter will set minimum standards for overtime pay, access to social protections and address the use of voyage contracts. Further information about the Charter and its provisions will be made available in due course.

We are also looking to implement the improvements to employment conditions for seafarers that were agreed with the support of the UK at the May 2022 meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee of the Maritime Labour Convention. The amendments to the Convention include those to ensure that food and drinking water of appropriate quality is provided free of charge and that seafarers are provided with details of insurance before or during the engagement process. The Department has also supported guidelines requiring the provision of internet access to seafarers on ships in port at free or low cost and has commissioned research on this to ensure the UK remains at forefront of the global seafaring community.

We are in ongoing discussions with international partners, industry and trade unions to drive forward seafarer working conditions.


Written Question
Shipping: Conditions of Employment
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with maritime trade unions on the employment conditions of (a) non-European and (b) European seafarers on MS Finnpulp.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Ministers have regular engagement with the maritime trade unions but have not discussed the employment conditions on MS Finnpulp.


Written Question
Teesport
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of seafarer jobs that were supported by each shipping activity in Teesport in each year since 2015.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department publishes statistics on seafarers nationally however these are not available at port level.


Written Question
Shipping: Freight
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of demand for shipping services from Teesport to Zeebrugge in the logistics sector.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The port and shipping sectors are both private, commercial sectors. Therefore, the assessment of future demand requirements of specific markets such as logistics, will be a commercial factor for relevant operators.

The Department for Transport does not publish statistics at port-to-port level due to commercial sensitivity, however, statistics for UK major port freight traffic to specific countries are available in table PORT0499, accessible here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1122247%2Fport0499.ods&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.


Written Question
Train Operating Companies: Contracts
Thursday 13th January 2022

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many organisations attended the rail passenger service contract market engagement day on 4 November 2021; and which owning groups attended that day.

Answered by Wendy Morton

550 individuals registered for the Rail Passenger Service Contract (PSC) day on the 4 November representing 228 organisations. These organisations included existing or potential investors, owning groups or operators; other attendees included advisors, rolling stock companies and infrastructure providers.


Written Question
Train Operating Companies: Industrial Disputes
Thursday 13th January 2022

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the rail passenger service contract market engagement day on 4 November 2021, what discussions took place on the risks arising from industrial action; and what the outcomes of those discussions were.

Answered by Wendy Morton

As communicated to participants, information provided at the market engagement day was indicative in nature. No overall decision on the future solution, technical elements, funding or commercial approach to passenger service contracts has yet been agreed.

Officials from the Department communicated an emerging policy position that Operators will continue to be responsible for the management of relationships with staff and unions, and that the Department are considering the possibility of offering operators some conditional relief from performance penalties in the event of industrial action, provided that the relevant operator acts in a good and efficient manner.


Written Question
Train Operating Companies: Industrial Disputes
Thursday 13th January 2022

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there are any financial implications for operators of (a) National Rail Contracts and (b) rail passenger service contracts in the event of industrial action.

Answered by Wendy Morton

(a) The financial implications for operators would depend on the nature of the industrial action and the actions of the operator. Where an operator failed to take appropriate action to mitigate the risk of industrial action in line with its NRC obligations, then potentially it may be liable for any revenue lost as a result. Further information on DfT payments to passenger rail operators under emergency agreements and National Rail Contracts is available on gov.uk. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements).

(b) Officials continue to consider the financial implications and approach to risks arising from industrial action under the Passenger Service Contracts; no policy decisions have yet been made.


Written Question
Train Operating Companies: Industrial Disputes
Thursday 13th January 2022

Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who will be responsible for risks arising from industrial action under rail passenger service contracts.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

Officials continue to consider the financial implications and approach to risks arising from industrial action under the Passenger Service Contracts; no policy decisions have yet been made.