Transport

Diana Johnson Excerpts

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: