Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of extensions to the Southeastern Railway franchise on the pay and conditions of staff working for that franchise.

During this period, pay has increased at around the level of the Retail Price Index.

The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements. The pay deals agreed with Southeastern staff during the last 12 months reflect a real terms increase when compared to the CPI and cost of living increases.