Rail Network (Disruption)

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I agree with my right hon. Friend. Compensation is something to which passengers are entitled if the delays were severe and over a certain period. That should happen. On the point about Network Rail overall, as I have said, a number of the projects undertaken have been completed successfully—not least one in Reading that affects my right hon. Friend’s constituency. Anyone using that line can see the huge investment, not just in the station but in the new viaduct, which will have a huge impact on reliability for my right hon. Friend’s constituents and others.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

I note that the Secretary of State said that, with hindsight, Finsbury Park was perhaps not the best option. Would it not have been better to have had some foresight and some contingency planning in relation to that?

[Mr McLoughlin]

As I have pointed out, most of the schemes with which Network Rail was involved were done on time and to schedule. Of course lessons will be learned from the incidents around Finsbury Park; I would expect them to be. This brings us back to whether during huge engineering works we want to close down the whole system or take action at a time that one hopes will be the least inconvenient for the vast majority of travelling passengers. I believe that this country’s railways and the people who work on them have seen the development of a hugely successful industry—moving from 750 million passenger journeys a year 20 years ago to 1.6 billion journeys last year. That should be regarded as a great success story.

East Coast Main Line

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Thursday 27th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I cannot imagine the Secretary of State being “thrown”. It would be a deeply onerous task, accomplished not without emotion.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State has made much of the potential benefits for employees, but is it not the case that he has ensured that TUPE will not apply, thus jeopardising the terms and conditions of the work force?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I think the hon. Lady is on to a technical point, but it will be a transfer over. It is a transfer over of the staff, who will be there on the same terms and conditions as they are at the moment—apart from those employed by Agility Trains.

High-speed Rail

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

My hon. Friend is right. One of the problems that HS2 addresses in a way that no other proposals put before us will address is capacity. I very much hope that it will free up other journeys so that we can have faster journey times from cities such as Worcester.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister will be aware that concerns have been expressed about the time for redevelopment at Euston and the potential impact on the west coast main line from Glasgow. Will he say more about that and about any impact on the Caledonian Sleeper service, which is important to the Scottish economy?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I fully accept that while huge works are going on at a station, there is disruption, so one of the questions that must be asked in the planning phase that HS2 is currently going through is how we minimise that. Inconvenience was caused at St Pancras for a number of years while redevelopment was going on, but, as I said earlier, nobody doubts that it was worth going through the pain as we have a far better station than we had previously, and I very much hope we can do the same for Euston.

High Speed Rail

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 28th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

My hon. Friend asks a reasonable question. I think I can best answer it by saying that we will have a better indication of exactly what capacity will be freed up once the line is confirmed and Network Rail is asked to start the work on the consequences of building the line.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State made reference not only to passenger capacity on the west coast main line but freight. Given the importance to the Scottish economy of connectivity between Scotland and the rest of the UK, will he discuss with the Scottish Government how freeing up capacity will benefit freight services to and from Scotland?

[Mr McLoughlin]

Now that the hon. Lady has asked me to do so, I will.

Rail Freight Traffic

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Wednesday 24th October 2012 Westminster Hall

[Sandra Osborne]

I certainly do agree, and I intend to raise that point later in my speech.

The charge would exclude Scottish-produced coal from the English market, resulting in a reduction in output of up to £3 million tonnes a year and, as my hon. Friend said, its replacement by imports. More than 1,000 direct jobs will be lost in an area of already high unemployment, particularly in the west of Scotland. Even the threat of the proposal is constraining investment, and it is imperative that it is withdrawn immediately.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

I assure my hon. Friend that I can understand her Ayrshire accent perfectly well this morning, even though she has a cold. Does she agree that it is concerning that the ORR seems to be suggesting that the electricity coal industry can afford to pay the increases, when there are problems in the industry in Ayrshire and jobs are under threat?

[Sandra Osborne]

Yes, totally. I intend to cover that topic later in my speech.

We are only too aware that the charge is proposed in a context of revenue-raising efforts and cuts across the board. The Government seek to end what they regard as a subsidy to the power industry. I argue that the proposal is ill thought out, counter-productive, at odds with existing Government policy and amounts to a possibly fatal attack on the coal industry, especially in Scotland and my constituency.

I will provide some background to the current position of the coal industry in Scotland. It is well publicised that coal mining in the UK is struggling. Contrary to the statements in the consultation documents about high international coal prices, the reality is that coal prices have fallen by some 30% so far this year. The recent trading announcements from a number of coal industry companies, which show an industry under severe financial pressures, reflect that. Margins are wafer thin and there have already been redundancies in Scotland, including in my constituency. Scottish Coal, for example, is consulting on 100 redundancies on top of a 10% cut in wages for the whole work force—hardly a thriving industry.

An increase of £4.50 a tonne in freight charges for supplies to England will lead to an immediate reduction in output, as high-ratio coals within existing sites are abandoned, with the possibility of some sites closing altogether. The suggested track charge increase could double the cost of coal transport from east Ayrshire to customers in England. That increase will impact heavily on the viability of coal operations in Scotland, with the very real prospect of mine closures. If operations involving the three companies in my constituency close, it will have a devastating impact on employment—direct and indirect.

We, of course, have already experienced the devastation of mine closures in our communities, so we know the results only too well. The area has never really recovered from the closure of deep mining in the ’80s, but open-cast mining has thrown us a lifeline, with well-paid jobs and community benefit. History has shown that local people are prepared to tolerate inconvenience and blight on their landscape, because they know how important the jobs are for every generation.

[Cathy Jamieson]

My hon. Friend has rightly identified that people have been prepared to accept the surface mining open-cast industry in many of our communities. Does she agree that that will be put at risk if coal is transferred back to the roads, rather than transported by rail?

[Sandra Osborne]

Yes, and some of the companies are not in a position to do that, even if they wanted to.

In 2012, 1,196 people are directly employed in open-cast mining in Scotland and 704 in east Ayrshire, which has the greatest number of coal sites in Scotland and the highest number employed in the industry. It produces more coal than any other area in Scotland and that is worth some £9.4 million to the local community. Following the decline of the deep mining sector and the devastation that followed, decline has set in and has been difficult to shift. The area has had consistently higher than average unemployment rates, population decline and trends of low economic activity and a high percentage of jobs in the public and retail sectors and areas of high relative deprivation. I am sure that the Minister gets the picture, but, if not, he is welcome to come to see for himself. The bottom line is that under no circumstances can we afford to lose the relatively secure, well-paid, private sector employment and input to the local community that the open-cast mines bring.

The consultation includes a range of suggested charge increases, but an increase of £4.50 a tonne is forecast. The consultation states that coal producers could absorb that increase in track charges, but no evidence base is presented to support the assertion and it appears to be just an arbitrary statement. Furthermore, the consultation proposes that the coal and the nuclear industries be singled out to be burdened with the increased track charges. A cynical view would be that the ORR sees those industries as a captive market without the ability to revert to road transport.

Oral Answers to Questions

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

I am very aware of the significance of that road. This is something we are looking at and will continue to look at as we develop plans for future road improvements.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

T9. I continue to receive representations from constituents regarding the Government’s plans for MOT tests. What assurances can I give them that concerns about safety have been taken into account, and what plans has the Secretary of State to update us?

[Justine Greening]

I will be announcing the next steps on those plans very shortly and can absolutely assure the hon. Lady that, as with any decisions I take, safety is of paramount consideration.

Oral Answers to Questions

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mrs Theresa Villiers)]

My hon. Friend and I have debated this issue before. She knows that I am reluctant for Ministers to have more hands-on involvement with the distribution of rolling stock on different lines, but I understand her concerns. My colleagues and I are of course happy to try to broker a solution, and I am pleased to say that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

T4. Are Ministers aware that there is growing concern about the potential sale of British Midland International to British Airways, which could have damaging consequences for Scottish businesses and travellers? I appreciate that under the Enterprise Act 2002 this is a matter for the Office of Fair Trading, but will Ministers keep an overview and, if appropriate, report to Parliament?

[Justine Greening]

I have already spoken to Willie Walsh about the proposed deal, which, as the hon. Lady will be aware, has some way to go before it is finalised and before we know about the impact on connectivity. She will also be aware that a scoping document consultation has just closed. When we look at the emerging strategy for aviation, it is important to ensure that we see a United Kingdom in the sense that we should have a well connected transport policy.