Development Consent Order: London Luton Airport
Heidi Alexander Excerpts(6 days, 12 hours ago)
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The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)
This statement confirms that it has been necessary to extend the deadline for the decision for the London Luton Airport development consent order under the Planning Act 2008.
Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, a decision must be made within three months of receipt of the examining authority’s report unless the power under section 107(3) to extend the deadline is exercised and a statement is made to Parliament announcing the new deadline.
The examining authority’s report on the London Luton Airport development consent order application was received on 10 May 2024. The current deadline for a decision is 3 January 2025, having been extended by way of written ministerial statements from the original deadline of 10 August 2024. The deadline for the decision is to be further extended to 3 April 2025—an extension of three months. The reason for the extension is to allow the newly appointed Secretary of State appropriate time to fully consider this complex application before making a final determination. The Department will however endeavour to issue a decision ahead of the deadline above where possible.
The decision to set a new deadline is without prejudice to the final decision on whether to give development consent for the above application.
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High Speed 2
Heidi Alexander Excerpts(6 days, 12 hours ago)
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The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)
I am today announcing the publication of the first report to Parliament on the progress of High Speed 2 from this Government.
This new Government are committed to transparency on HS2 and keeping parliamentarians informed of both the issues the programme is facing, the position we have inherited and its progress towards delivering rail capacity and passenger benefits between London and the west midlands (phase 1). Since coming into Government, we have announced urgent measures to get a grip on HS2’s costs and ensure taxpayers’ money is put to good use and we will be working closely with the new CEO, Mark Wild, to deliver the remaining work as cost-effectively as possible, including setting a realistic budget and schedule.
HS2 phase 1 is a vital part of the Government’s mission to rebuild Britain, and the Government have been clear that we need to deliver infrastructure that works for the whole country. Right now HS2 supports 31,000 jobs and when completed, it will give faster, more reliable and frequent rail services between the west midlands and London, promoting economic growth and opportunities for workers, releasing capacity to meet increasing demand on regional and local services, and stimulating new jobs and houses around its new stations in Birmingham, Solihull and London.
This report, which covers data reported by HS2 Ltd to the end of September 2024, provides information about the key decisions taken since the new Government were formed in July, and the progress made in delivering phase 1. The Government intend to publish these updates broadly every six months.
I will place a copy of the full report in the Libraries of both Houses. This will also be available on www.gov.uk.
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Passenger Railway Services: Public Ownership
Heidi Alexander Excerpts(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)
The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill received Royal Assent on 28 November 2024, putting on the statute book this important piece of legislation—one of the first Government Bills to be enacted in this Parliament. The Act enables the Government to deliver their manifesto commitment to bring passenger services into public ownership as a first step towards wider rail reform.
Following Royal Assent being granted, I am today launching the programme to transition passenger rail services currently operated by privately owned operators into public ownership and confirming that services currently operated by South Western Railway and c2c will be the first to transfer into public ownership when their National Rail contracts expire on 2 May 2025 and 20 July 2025 respectively. The Government are also announcing that, in line with our approach of transferring services as existing contracts expire, Greater Anglia’s services will be next to transfer in autumn 2025. The Government will issue an expiry notice to Greater Anglia in due course to confirm the exact transfer date.
I am determined that these will be smooth transitions for passengers and staff. Passengers who use South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia’s services can be reassured that trains will continue to run as normal, tickets can be purchased and used in the same way. Tickets bought before the transfer date for travel after that date will continue to be valid.
Safety will be a priority throughout the programme of transitioning passenger services into public ownership and the Department for Transport will work closely with the Office of Rail and Road, the independent regulator for the railways, in this regard. As with any transition, and in line with normal industry practices, appropriate licences, safety certificates and system must be in place before services transfer.
I recognise and value the dedication and expertise of our rail workforce, and the Government will wish to retain the committed and talented staff that keep the railways running for passengers. We will work closely with each operator to ensure that further information is shared directly with staff and trade unions at the appropriate time. The TUPE regulations will apply in the same way as they have done in previous transfers, protecting employees’ contractual terms and conditions as they transfer.
Following Greater Anglia, the programme will continue with the transfer of one operator’s services roughly every three months. We expect these to follow the order in which operators’ current contractual minimum terms expire, unless a TOC defaults on its contract to the extent that there is a contractual right to terminate, in which case it will transfer as soon as reasonably practicable, or other extenuating circumstances arise.
I will be monitoring very closely the performance of all existing train operators who run services under contract to the Department and, as the Government made clear during the passage of the Bill, we will not hesitate to take decisive action where an operator’s poor performance means that contractual conditions for early termination of a National Rail contract are met.
The changes made by the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 make appointing a publicly owned operator the default rather than a last resort. Therefore, I am also announcing that, from today, the organisation responsible for managing the public sector operators will be changing its name to DfT Operator Ltd. I look forward to working collaboratively with them as these transfers into public ownership begin and as the work of shadow GBR continues.
Improving our railways will take time, but this is a crucial first step towards fundamental rail reform. Challenges remain in a system that is fragmented, complicated and provides little accountability. In the coming months we will set out more detail about how, through the establishment of Great British Railways, we will reform our railways to modernise working practices, make tickets simpler and fairer, deliver a better service for passengers and a better deal for taxpayers.
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