Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what pay mandate he has set for the Train Operating Companies in 2022.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Our railways are on financial life support. We have lost a quarter of our passengers and the Government has spent £16 billion during the pandemic, equivalent to nearly £600 per household, irrespective of whether they use the railways, to keep subsidising the railway. We need to make our railways fit for the future and want a fair deal for staff, passengers, and taxpayers so the railway does not take money away from other essential public services such as the NHS.
Unions are threatening industrial action before talks have even begun. Strikes should be the last resort, not the first. They will stop customers choosing rail, and those passengers might never return, killing services and jobs. The RMT trade union are balloting 40,000 members from across England, Wales and Scotland for industrial action and we would expect the relevant devolved authorities to be engaging with the employers in affected areas.
Train operating companies are the employers of rail staff, not the Government. They, therefore, individually negotiate with trade unions on matters such as pay.
The Department has a commercial relationship with train operators, and we maintain a public register of rail contracts available on the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts. This contains guidance on how to request information and what information we are unable to publish.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the correspondence between his Department and Train Operating Companies on spending cuts and workforce reforms since the Autumn Statement on 27 October 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Our railways are on financial life support. We have lost a quarter of our passengers and the Government has spent £16 billion during the pandemic, equivalent to nearly £600 per household, irrespective of whether they use the railways, to keep subsidising the railway. We need to make our railways fit for the future and want a fair deal for staff, passengers, and taxpayers so the railway does not take money away from other essential public services such as the NHS.
Unions are threatening industrial action before talks have even begun. Strikes should be the last resort, not the first. They will stop customers choosing rail, and those passengers might never return, killing services and jobs. The RMT trade union are balloting 40,000 members from across England, Wales and Scotland for industrial action and we would expect the relevant devolved authorities to be engaging with the employers in affected areas.
Train operating companies are the employers of rail staff, not the Government. They, therefore, individually negotiate with trade unions on matters such as pay.
The Department has a commercial relationship with train operators, and we maintain a public register of rail contracts available on the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts. This contains guidance on how to request information and what information we are unable to publish.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings he is requiring in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 from (i) each individual Train Operating Company and (ii) all Train Operating Companies in total; and whether in each case he is requiring a certain proportion of those savings to be found from salary costs.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Our railways are on financial life support. We have lost a quarter of our passengers and the Government has spent £16 billion during the pandemic, equivalent to nearly £600 per household, irrespective of whether they use the railways, to keep subsidising the railway. We need to make our railways fit for the future and want a fair deal for staff, passengers, and taxpayers so the railway does not take money away from other essential public services such as the NHS.
Unions are threatening industrial action before talks have even begun. Strikes should be the last resort, not the first. They will stop customers choosing rail, and those passengers might never return, killing services and jobs. The RMT trade union are balloting 40,000 members from across England, Wales and Scotland for industrial action and we would expect the relevant devolved authorities to be engaging with the employers in affected areas.
Train operating companies are the employers of rail staff, not the Government. They, therefore, individually negotiate with trade unions on matters such as pay.
The Department has a commercial relationship with train operators, and we maintain a public register of rail contracts available on the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts. This contains guidance on how to request information and what information we are unable to publish.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any changes to the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement Ticket Office Guidance (a) have been and (b) will be subject to a full public consultation.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) Ticket Office Guidance is not subject to a public consultation.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Network Rail has engaged consultancy services to provide surveillance and data collection on the social media activities of Network Rail workplace union representatives and wider Network Rail workforce.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Network Rail has not engaged consultancy services to provide surveillance or data collection on the social media activities of Network Rail workplace union representatives or wider Network Rail workforce.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative estimate he has made of the number of (a) people undertaking training and apprenticeships in the rail sector and (b) jobs available in that sector.
Answered by Wendy Morton
No comparative estimate has been made of the number of people undertaking training and apprenticeships in the rail sector and jobs available across the entirety of the rail sector.
The Department is committed to ensuring that the transport workforce better reflects our diverse society. On 7 February 2022 the Department published a Transport Labour Market and Skills Call for Views and Ideas, which asks for views on the future labour market and skills needs of the transport sector, including how we can do more to target and reduce the barriers to improving diversity, inclusion, and social mobility.
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail also sets out a commitment to empower rail’s people and the new body, Great British Railways (GBR) will work with the sector to develop a new sector wide workforce plan with a joined up cross-sector training and skills offer. This approach will support a consistent and sustainable approach in future recruitment practices.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the World Maritime University’s EVREST report on the regulation of seafarers’ hours of rest and work, published in 2020, what steps the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is taking in response to the recommendations in that report.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The United Kingdom supported the World Maritime University’s EVREST report at its presentation at the Special Tripartite Committee of the International Labour Organization in April 2021. The report is due to be considered by the International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee in April 2022, and the UK has co-sponsored the World Maritime University’s paper proposing work in response to their report.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and their social partners agreed to wait for the outcome of this meeting before discussing further. The MCA takes seafarer fatigue seriously and will continue to enforce the current rules, work at an international level to improve the international standards in this area, and work with social partners to improve understanding of fatigue.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 2.175 to 2.177 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 HC822, what assessment he has made of the impact of the planned reforms to the tonnage tax scheme on seafarer ratings in the UK.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
These reforms offer significant opportunity for economic growth, creating new maritime jobs across the UK. The Department will work closely with the maritime sector to maximise opportunities for UK seafarer cadets and ratings, which will be significantly improved by attracting more shipping firms into UK tonnage tax.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what impact assessment his Department has been made of the increase in electricity charges on Network Rail’s Traction Decarbonisation Strategy.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
An impact assessment of electricity price fluctuations on Network Rail’s Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) has not been undertaken. TDNS is a long-term strategy that provides advice about the most appropriate technology (electrification, battery, or hydrogen) to power trains on each section of the network, based on certain assumptions. While the electricity price changes are expected to be short-term, the analysis that informs TDNS will need to be updated as technology develops.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether increases in electricity prices will be passed on to rail passengers via increased ticket prices.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
No decision has been made on national rail fares for 2022. The Government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.