Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what equalities impact assessment his Department made ahead of its decision to make it a requirement of providing emergency funding to TfL to end the Freedom Pass and impose peak time restriction on the Oyster 60+ card in London on people (a) on low incomes and (b) with disabilities.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London to continue to run services contained a series of conditions, which were agreed by the Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor for Transport, to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London.
While the temporary changes to the validity of the Older Person's Freedom Pass, 60+ Oyster photocard and English National Concessionary Scheme in London have removed free travel for users of these passes from 04:30 to 09:00 Monday to Friday, the provision for over 60s travel in London is still greater than that elsewhere in England, where the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme allows cardholders to travel on buses across the UK for free after 09:30.
An Equality Impact Assessment of the temporary changes to over 60s travel in London was completed by Transport for London and is published here: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/md2642_appendix_2_-_eqia.pdf
The temporary changes do not affect passengers with a Disabled Freedom Pass who are still able to travel at all times using their Pass if they have to use public transport for their journey.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what equalities impact assessment of low income families his Department made ahead of its decision to make it a requirement of providing emergency funding to TfL to change fares in London for children and young people under 18.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions, which were agreed by the Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor for Transport, to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s.
The Department is working closely with TfL on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised, whilst ensuring that any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive this. The Department is also completing an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider whether there are further categories of vulnerable children that should receive free transport.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) resilience of Network Rail’s signalling infrastructure and (b) the potential for failure of that infrastructure to affect passengers.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As part of Network Rail’s latest settlement (Control Period 6) Government has committed to continue record levels of investment in rail infrastructure, providing around £48bn of funding across the five-year period spanning from 2019 to 2024. This funding settlement is focussed on maintaining and improving rail infrastructure assets including signals, and includes major programmes of signalling upgrades which will increase resilience. This will help support a more reliable railway for passengers by reducing the instances of failures which affect passengers. This includes Network rail’s recognition within the CP6 delivery plan that digital signalling renewals are a priority. Network Rail have published their Long-Term Deployment Plan for digital signalling as part of the Digital Railway transformation
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to ensure that rail infrastructure is (a) secure and (b) fit for purpose.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The management of the UK’s mainline rail infrastructure is undertaken by Network Rail. To enable Network Rail to carry out its work effectively, Government has committed to continue record levels of investment in rail infrastructure, providing around £48bn of funding across the five-year period spanning from 2019 to 2024. This funding settlement is focussed on maintaining and improving rail infrastructure assets to help support a more reliable railway for passengers.
With regards to security, the Government regulates the rail industry in Great Britain, including both domestic and international operators and works closely with the police and security partners. Policing of the railway is undertaken by the British Transport Police, the specialist dedicated police force for the railway in Great Britain.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of the aviation industry to carbon emissions; and what plans his Department has to reduce emissions from the aviation industry.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy provide annual figures on UK greenhouse gas emissions, including those from domestic aviation. International aviation emissions are estimated based on bunker fuel use (this is the fuel used by aircraft when they refuel in the UK), but are not included in UK greenhouse gas accounting. There is currently no internationally agreed method of allocating international aviation carbon emissions between countries.
The Government recognises that the fight against climate change is the greatest and most pressing challenge facing the modern world. International aviation emissions are a global problem that require a global solution. It is vital that we provide UK leadership to find an answer that does not simply displace emissions elsewhere across the globe.
In December 2018, the Government published its Aviation 2050 green paper that supports a range of measures to achieve its 2050 vision, including efficiency improvements in technology, operations and air traffic management, use of renewable fuels and market-based measures.
In addition, the Committee on Climate Change provided the Government with aviation specific advice on 24 September 2019. We are carefully considering this advice and its implications for Government policy and we will shortly publish a consultation on aviation and climate change.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Network Rail's emergency maintenance on the rail network in the past five years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
It is a matter for the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to assess the effectiveness of NR’s maintenance activity and its impact on the performance of the rail network. ORR reports every six months on its assessment of how Network Rail is performing in the “Network Rail Monitor”, which is available on the ORR’s website at ORR.gov.uk.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether section 14 of the Railway Regulation Act 1842 is used by Network Rail to gain access to tenanted railway arch premises.
Answered by Andrew Jones
It is not standard practice for Network Rail to use section 14 to obtain access to tenanted railway arches. Network Rail has obtained access to a tenanted archway once in the last five years in order to maintain the integrity and safety of the railway.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Network Rail's planned maintenance on the rail network in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
It is a matter for the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to assess the effectiveness of NR’s maintenance activity and its impact on the performance of the rail network. ORR reports every six months on its assessment of how Network Rail is performing in the “Network Rail Monitor”, which is available on the ORR’s website at ORR.gov.uk.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway arches owned by (a) Network Rail and (b) Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As part of the sale Network Rail retained 1224 (25%) railway arches out of a total of 4930. Telereal Trillium and Blackstone property were sold the remaining 3706 (75%).
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the value for money achieved through (a) the sale of Network Rail arches to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners and (b) Network Rail’s re-purchase of some railway arches.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The sale of Network Rail arches to Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners achieved value for money from the taxpayer, with £1.46bn of proceeds raised. Any properties required as part of known upgrades during CP6 were excluded from the original sale. The costs of taking back any further arches will be taken into consideration as part of the cost of any potential future upgrades. It is also worth noting that before the sale of arches, in instances where NR needed to take back arches for railway purposes, NR would have lost the rental income and therefore the value equation is similar.