Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the mandatory employment conditions excluding national minimum wage rates which apply to seafarers working on routes between maritime ports in the territorial waters of (a) the UK and (b) France.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Extensive details of mandatory employment conditions for seafarers are set out in international conventions including the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and corresponding UK legislation.
In addition to improving working conditions through our Nine Point Plan for Seafarer Protections, the UK continues to play a leading role internationally in improving seafarer welfare.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with P&O Ferries.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We welcome P&O Ferries’ statement that it is committed to signing the Seafarers’ Charter, following Brittany Ferries, Condor, DFDS and Stena Line in committing to work towards meeting its requirements.
Following P&O Ferries’ commitment, officials met representatives of the company on Monday 18 March for a technical discussion on how compliance with the Charter requirements should be demonstrated. We anticipate further such discussions.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the UK signing up to the European Company for the Financing of Railroad Rolling Stock convention.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is supportive of international initiatives to help deliver new vehicles and upgrade existing fleets that improve passenger experience and support our decarbonisation objectives. We are committed to encouraging investment in domestic and international rail services and unlocking greater private financing to support this.
My officials have engaged regularly with Eurofima, the company established by the convention, to discuss the potential opportunities and costs associated with it. However, given the significant membership requirements of Eurofima, any decision would be subject to the usual value for money considerations.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recruitment process his Department followed for the recent appointment of the Director General for Rail Services on 18 March 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 18 March 2024 the Department for Transport announced the appointment of Alex Hynes to the role of Director General for Rail Services. Alex has been appointed through a time-bound secondment agreement with Network Rail. Appropriate approvals were sought and obtained including from the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and Civil Service Commission.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the on-board catering capacity of the Class 390 Pendolino trains operated by Avanti West Coast following the refurbishment of that train fleet.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The on-board catering capacity on the refurbished Class 390 Pendolino fleet is a matter for the operator. However, officials regularly hold Avanti West Coast (AWC) to account on the on-board customer experience they provide to passengers including catering services.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the last pre-Fresh Start prison officer with reserved pension rights retired from service.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Currently there are 11 full time and 181 partially retired operational uniform staff who retained Pre-Fresh Start Reserved Rights Terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme. There are also 19 partially retired Operational Managers who retained Pre-Fresh Start terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme at the date of taking their benefits.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pre-Fresh Start prison officers with reserved pension rights remain in service.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Currently there are 11 full time and 181 partially retired operational uniform staff who retained Pre-Fresh Start Reserved Rights Terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme. There are also 19 partially retired Operational Managers who retained Pre-Fresh Start terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme at the date of taking their benefits.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the impact that changes in the national (a) living and (b) minimum wage commencing on 1 April 2024 will have on staffing costs in his Department; and how many staff in his Department will receive a pay uplift as a result of those changes.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
All HM Treasury staff are paid above the National Living Wage. The changes that take effect on 1 April 2024 will therefore have no impact on staffing costs to the Department.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the impact that changes in the national (a) living and (b) minimum wage commencing on 1 April 2024 will have on staffing costs in his Department; and how many staff in his Department will receive a pay uplift as a result of those changes.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 1 April 2024 the statutory National Living Wage (NLW) will be uplifted from £10.42 to £11.44 per hour, a rise of 9.8%. DWP pay NLW regardless of age.
Based on January headcount data 22,267 DWP employees will be impacted by the 2024 increase to the NLW and will require a pay uplift to meet the new NLW rate. This is estimated to cost the department £22.59m including Employer National Insurance and Pension contributions this year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the Maritime and Coastguard Agency carried out port state control inspections of the (a) P&O Pioneer and (b) P&O Liberte ferries in Dover under the Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The P&O PIONEER was last inspected under the EU Directive, 2017/2110 on “A system of Inspections for the safe operations of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft in regular service” by the French on 17 November 2023 in the port of Calais. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out general inspections on board on 2 and 9 June 2023 in the ports of Dunkerque and Dover respectively.
The P&O LIBERTE was last inspected under the EU Directive, 2017/2110 on “A system of Inspections for the safe operations of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft in regular service” by the French on 11 March 2024 in the port of Calais. The MCA carried out a port state control inspection on board on 7 March 2024 in the port of Dover.
The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023 do not apply to these vessels as they operate to an EU member state. As set out in Regulation 2(a), a regular service is defined as a service between a port in the United Kingdom and a port of a country other than an EU member state. The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023 apply to all ro-ro passenger ferries or high-speed passenger craft, which operate a regular service to or from a port in the United Kingdom either on an international voyage to a non-EU port or to another UK port in sea areas designated Class A in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships on Domestic Voyages) Regulations 2000. Inspections of foreign flagged ro-ro passenger ferries or high-speed passenger craft on a regular service between the UK and a port in the European Union will be carried out under the Port State Control regime in accordance with Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2011.