Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take additional steps to ensure the effective operation of the West Coast Main Line prior to the expiry of the short-term contract for the management of that line with Avanti West Coast.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Effective operation of the West Coast Main Line requires Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager, and the train operating companies including West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, and TransPennine Express to work collaboratively. Where train operating companies, including Avanti West Coast, perform poorly, the Department will continue to hold them to account for the things within their control using the mechanisms within the contract.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which companies have been appointed to perform the contract scorecard evaluations for the each of the following train operating companies (a) Avanti, (b) Great Western Railway, (c) Chiltern, (d) CrossCountry, (e) East Midlands; Greater Anglia, (f) c2c, (g) South Western Railway, (h) GTR, (i) TransPennine Express and (j) West Midlands Trains.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Upcoming Performance-Based Fee Scorecard evaluations for these train operators will use independent evaluators sourced through the following suppliers: Atkins, Jacobs, Arup, Steer and Costain.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which companies conducted the contract scorecard evaluations for (a) Great Western Railway, (b) Chiltern, (c) CrossCountry, (d) East Midlands, (e) Greater Anglia, (f) c2c, (g) South Western Railway, (h) GTR, (i) TransPennine Express, (j) Avanti, (k) West Midlands Trains, (l) Southeastern.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Performance-Based Fee Scorecard evaluations for Emergency Measures Agreements, Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements and National Rail Contracts for all private train operators have used independent evaluators sourced through Arup, Atkins and Jacobs.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of industrial action by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers on rail services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The industry is taking all possible steps to ensure that as much of the railway as possible operates during periods of industrial action and that passengers are kept fully informed of the impact of disruption. Service levels during recent periods of industrial action varied by region. To ensure services run safely and reliably, Network Rail and train operating companies implement a Key Route Strategy focusing limited resources on those routes with the busiest passenger and freight traffic and on strike days, this means around 20 per cent of passenger services run, with a focus on protecting critical passenger and freight flows. Unfortunately, this means that on RMT strike days, generally there are no Transport for Wales, West Midlands Trains or Avanti West Coast services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham. My officials and I remain committed to playing our part in bringing a swift resolution to the industrial disputes.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) Great Western Railway, (b) Cross Country Trains, (c) Greater Anglia, (d) LNER, (e) East Midlands Railway, (f) c2c, (g) Chiltern Railways, (h) GTR, (i) Northern Trains, (j) South Eastern, (k) South Western Railway, (l) TransPennine Express, (m) Avanti West Coast and (n) West Midlands Trains on the (i) quality and (ii) frequency of their train services; and whether he will take steps to mandate for those companies to negotiate the wages of railway staff.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department is in regular discussion with all 14 train operating companies about the quality and frequency of train services to ensure that operators are held to account for delivering services that meet new passenger travel patterns, are fit for the future, and carefully balance cost, capacity and performance.
The Rail Delivery Group are negotiating with Trade Unions on proposed pay offers at a national level on behalf of Train Operating Companies (the employers). Ministers’ role is to facilitate and support the ongoing discussions between the rail industry and Trade Unions regarding workforce reform and pay.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was paid to private companies to manage the procurement of hotel accommodation for asylum applicants in each of the last 12 months by company.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Due to the continuing unprecedented high volume of small boats arrivals and the historical pressure from COVID-19 measures on the asylum system it has been necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers to meet our immediate statutory need.
The precise number of hotel spaces available will fluctuate through each day, therefore it is not possible to advise how many accommodation spaces were available to asylum seekers on each day since 5 September 2022.
Under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC), three accommodation providers have been contracted to procure and provide hotel accommodation for asylum seekers; Clearsprings Ready Homes, Mears Group and Serco.
The contracts have been awarded on a regional basis as follows.
Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which private companies hold contracts for the procurement of hotel accommodation for asylum applicants.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Due to the continuing unprecedented high volume of small boats arrivals and the historical pressure from COVID-19 measures on the asylum system it has been necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers to meet our immediate statutory need.
The precise number of hotel spaces available will fluctuate through each day, therefore it is not possible to advise how many accommodation spaces were available to asylum seekers on each day since 5 September 2022.
Under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC), three accommodation providers have been contracted to procure and provide hotel accommodation for asylum seekers; Clearsprings Ready Homes, Mears Group and Serco.
The contracts have been awarded on a regional basis as follows.
Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of business insolvencies there have been in the food and beverage services industry in each region in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dean Russell
The data used for insolvency statistics is compiled from information at Companies House. The registered office address for a company may not be representative of its trading location, and often it is changed upon insolvency to the address of the appointed Insolvency Practitioner dealing with the case. Subject to these caveats, the table below sets out the data on estimated company insolvencies by year and region for companies in the food and beverage service activities division (SIC code 56) between 2017 and 2022. The 2022 figures are up to the 30th June 2022.
Table 1: Estimated company insolvencies in the food and beverage services division by region and year, 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2022, United Kingdom
Source: Insolvency Service
Region/ Country[1] | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022[2] | |
North East | 65 | 75 | 65 | 46 | 42 | 46 | |
North West | 216 | 304 | 364 | 270 | 223 | 212 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 236 | 241 | 276 | 209 | 271 | 153 | |
East Midlands | 135 | 157 | 180 | 82 | 85 | 72 | |
West Midlands | 136 | 192 | 196 | 166 | 160 | 102 | |
East of England | 98 | 126 | 122 | 103 | 141 | 128 | |
London | 391 | 509 | 574 | 410 | 369 | 250 | |
South East | 137 | 155 | 168 | 140 | 124 | 86 | |
South West | 89 | 120 | 134 | 80 | 86 | 46 | |
Northern Ireland | 32 | 39 | 59 | 23 | 8 | 13 | |
Scotland | 105 | 172 | 192 | 108 | 77 | 56 | |
Wales | 46 | 57 | 68 | 41 | 36 | 31 | |
Unknown | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
[1] Region/country is based on registered company address, which may not be representative of a company’s trading location. [2] 2022 number up to 30th June 2022 |
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Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent notifications she has received that (a) Chiltern Railways, (b) Cross Country Trains, (c) Greater Anglia, (d) LNER, (e) East Midlands Railway, (f) c2c, (g) Great Western Railway, (h) GTR, (i) Northern Trains, (j) South Eastern, (k) South Western Railway, (l) TransPennine Express, (m) Avanti West Coast and (n) West Midlands Trains plan to submit applications to close ticket offices regulated by Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We want to move staff from behind the ticket office screens to more visible and accessible roles around stations which better support customers and train operating companies have set out early proposals for station retail reform. Any decisions which are taken will be made in accordance with the TSA and the relevant guidance.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps with the relevant stakeholders to (a) investigate the circumstances in which a disabled person was required to ascend station stairs without assistance on Friday 17 June at Milton Keynes station and (b) ensure that a similar incident does not reoccur.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My officials are aware of this incident and have been in contact with the relevant train operating companies. A joint investigation by Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and Network Rail has recently concluded and relevant recommendations are being considered as required. Whilst I await confirmation of all recommendations being fulfilled, I understand that Avanti West Coast is continuing to engage directly with Mr Nicholson and has invited him to join their Accessibility Panel to discuss improvements.