Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the loss of fare revenue arising from the recent withdrawal from service of some Hitachi trains; and who will bear the cost of that loss of revenue.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Disruption has been most significant on the Great Western Railway (GWR) network on Intercity services, as well as some London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and a small number of TransPennine Express services.
We anticipate less than £1m each day may need to be refunded for GWR services. On LNER services, and despite a smaller disruptive impact to the operation of services, the operator has reported to the Department that it processed on average £60,000 per day of Delay Repay claims last week.
The agreements in place to use the affected trains contain provisions that protect the taxpayer and we are currently assessing all available options to ensure taxpayers are protected.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021; and why they did not publish that report before 1 May 2021.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published the report on 13 May, as soon as possible after the Queen’s speech. There were a range of factors that unfortunately delayed publication of the report. This included receiving 499 responses which was much more than expected so the report took longer to produce, commencement of the pre-local election period, and prorogation of Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021 will be published before the 1 May 2021.
The consultation ran from 1 February 2021 to 26 February 2021. The analysis of consultation responses is currently taking place.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many submissions were made to the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021; and, of these submissions, how many mentioned (1) Woore, and (2) Aldersey's Rough.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There have been 499 responses to the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021.
The coding and analysis of consultation responses is ongoing by an independent organisation, Ipsos MORI, so we are unable to provide exact figures for the number of responses which mention specific areas or themes at this time. The initial findings are that around 80 responses have mentioned Woore and around 30 responses have mentioned Aldersey’s Rough.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average period of time in days between the booking of each practical driving test and the date of the test in each (1) month in 2020 for which figures are available, and (2) month of 2019.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Average time in days between practical car test booking and the test date
January 2020 63.9
February 2020 122.7
March 2020 179.4
April 2020 40
May 2020 34
June 2020 31.9
July 2020 *
August 2020 *
September 2020 *
October 2020 *
November 2020 *
December 2020 *
*TO NOTE: We cannot provide figures beyond 30 June 2020 as they have not yet been published officially and to release them externally would breach the Statistics and Registrations Service Act 2007.
Average time in days between practical car test booking and the test date
January 2019 40.1
February 2019 40.9
March 2019 44.7
April 2019 49.4
May 2019 48.9
June 2019 50.3
July 2019 54.5
August 2019 55.2
September 2019 51.2
October 2019 49.2
November 2019 53.2
December 2019 55.9
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many practical driving tests (1) took place, and (2) were postponed or cancelled, (a) in each month in 2020 for which figures are available, and (b) in each month of 2019.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Please see attached table for the Number of practical car tests conducted and the Number of practical car tests postponed or cancelled in 2020.
Please see attached Table 2 for the No. of practical car tests conducted and the No. of practical car tests postponed or cancelled in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 5 May (HL Deb, cols 369–72), what steps they are taking to ensure that British Airways and other airlines process and deliver refunds that have been promised to customers as soon as reasonably possible.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport is in regular conversation with UK airlines and wider membership bodies. We are working closely with the sector, the regulator and consumer groups to help ensure airlines deliver on their commitments.
Airlines are working hard to answer the high call volumes and to process large volumes of refunds. However, the Government appreciates the frustration consumers may be experiencing. We have been clear that where a consumer has asked for a refund, that refund must be paid.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the Williams Rail Review.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Williams Rail Review was in the final stages of drafting at the outbreak of COVID-19. The Government views the purpose of the reforms as important as ever, but further work needs to be done now to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. We are progressing with this work.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January (HLWS69) which stated that "Wherever you live, you deserve a railway that widens your children’s horizon, gives you access to highly skilled, highly paid jobs, and provides a viable green alternative to getting in your car", how many people in England they estimate do not currently have access to such an alternative.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government’s vision is for a transport system that is an engine for economic growth, is more environmentally sustainable and improves quality of life within our communities. Passenger numbers on the railways have doubled since privatisation, and this growth has brought significant benefits to Britain’s economy and environment by relieving congestion on the roads, reducing carbon emissions and improving connectivity for businesses, commuters and leisure travellers.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January, when was the cross-industry North West Recovery Task Force established; who are the members of that task force; and when they expect it to "deliver recommendations on how best to boost capacity and performance in the short, medium and longer term".
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The task force is considering a number of options that can be implemented to improve the performance and capacity of all rail services through Greater Manchester. It was established in January 2020 with members from Network Rail, DfT, stakeholders and train operators. It is considering and assessing a range of potential timetable and infrastructure changes across the short, medium and long term and I expect the first recommendations to be made later this year.