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Performance Indicators
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what date he decided to develop a quarterly set of key indicators against which progress on improving the railways could be measured; what process of consultation his Department undertook when developing these indicators; which individuals and organisations were consulted with regards to the development of these indicators; and if he will make a statement. [40957]
Mr. Jamieson: The Secretary of State announced on 23 January 2002 that his Department would publish a set of benchmarks against which progress and improvements
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in delivering a better railway could be judged. The set of indicators focuses on the issues that matter most to passengers: punctuality, reliability, safety and quality. The Strategic Rail Authority was consulted on the choice of indicators.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether the indicators of delivery in the railway industry published in Fact Sheet 4: General Railway Facts for the National Rail Summit 2002 are being monitored; and if he will make a statement. [41118]
Mr. Jamieson: The following table denotes 1 where information on each of the items listed in the delivery section of Fact Sheet 4: General Railway Facts for the National Rail Summit 2000 is regularly provided. All the publications are placed in the Library of the House at the time of publication.
| SRA annual report | National rail trends | On track | DTLR performance measure scorecard | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment | (12)— | (11)— | — | — |
| Passenger journeys | (11)— | (11)— | (11)— | — |
| Punctuality | (11)— | (11)— | (11)— | (11)— |
| Train miles | (11)— | (11)— | (11)— | — |
| Additional train services | (11)— | — | (11)— | — |
| Improvements to station facilities | (11)— | — | (11)— | — |
| New stations opened | (11)— | — | (11)— | — |
| Rolling stock | (11)— | (13)— | (11)— | (11),(14)— |
(11) Information regularly provided in publication.
(12) Includes information on franchise payments.
(13) Planned for future publications.
(14) In the form of average age of stock, from 18 March.
London Commuter Services
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he collates regarding delays and cancellations on London commuter rail services; and where it is available. [40951]
Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is responsible for the Public Performance Measurement (PPM) which measures the performance of train operating companies. The SRA publishes information quarterly in 'National Rail Trends' and six-monthly in 'On Track'. The information is also on the SRA web site. The March and subsequent publications of National Rail Trends will include information on the individual train operating companies.
The PPM information in the Department's rail performance scorecard is provided by the SRA. It can be accessed on the Department's website—www.dtlr.gov.uk. The next scorecard will be published on 18 March alongside National Rail Trends.
Railways
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to address skill shortages within the railway industry. [40945]
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Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) will take the lead on proposals for a National Rail Academy, to promote the development of the key skills and competencies needed to run a railway on a safe and effective basis. The SRA will also become a member of the Rail Industry Training Council and will work jointly with the Department of Education and Skills to promote an action plan on manpower planning, recruitment and training and development.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the £8.1 billion of uncommitted public investment in rail in the 10 year plan is intended to meet repayment and interest due as a result of private sector investment in the plan. [41762]
Mr. Jamieson: The £8.1 billion of uncommitted public capital funding, along with the rest of the £33.5 billion of public sector funding, will work in partnership with the private sector investment to deliver our Ten Year Plan objectives for rail. It will be allocated in the most cost-effective and efficient way to deliver much needed investment in the railways.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the responsibilities held by his Department which will be transferred to the European Railways Agency. [41757]
Mr. Jamieson: None. The European Commission's draft Regulation to establish a European Railway Agency (COM(2002)23 Final) indicates that the Agency will have no autonomous decision-making powers and that its responsibilities will be limited to carrying out technical work on behalf of the European Commission and the member states.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether the Department's modelling of rail demand for the 10 year plan period took into account differing levels of service reliability and overcrowding. [41655]
Mr. Jamieson: Yes, with the results of their impact under the basecase and our Ten Year Plan investment case outlined in Chapters 2 and 3 of the Ten Year Plan Background Analysis document.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of the total 10 year plan spending targets will be taken up by revenue support for private investment. [41664]
Mr. Jamieson: The 10 Year Plan assumes that £8.5 billion of the £134 billion of public expenditure in the Plan provides revenue support for £56.3 billion of private investment. However to avoid double counting when adding public expenditure and private investment together, revenue support for private investment is not included in the 10 Year Plan total of £181.9 billion. Therefore it is not appropriate to provide a figure for revenue support as a proportion of this total figure. However revenue support for private investment represents 6.3 per cent. of public expenditure in the plan.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the working groups for the TSIs on European rail interoperability have met; and if he will make a statement. [41734]
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Mr. Jamieson: The working groups that are responsible for drafting the rail interoperability Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs) have been meeting since 1996 when the high-speed rail interoperability Directive (96/48/EC) came into force. These working groups have now started work on TSIs for conventional rail, following adoption of the conventional rail interoperability Directive (2001/16/EC) last year. The interoperability "Article 21 Committee", the committee comprising the European Commission and the member states that formally adopts the TSIs, has also met regularly since 1996.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions who will be representing the UK on the working groups on the TSIs on European rail interoperability. [41735]
Mr. Jamieson: The working groups to draft the rail interoperability Technical Specifications Interoperability (TSI's) have been set up under the auspices of AEIF, the European Association for Railway Interoperability. AEIF comprises representatives from the UIC (the International Union of Railways), UNIFE (the Union of European Railway Industries) and UITP (the International Union of Public Transport) and the working group representatives are drawn from these organisations based on individual nominations by member companies.
The UK is well represented on these working groups, from both railway companies including Railway Safety and manufacturing industry. The UK is also represented on the interoperability "Article 21 Committee", the committee comprising the European Commission and the member states that formally adopts the TSIs. Until the end of 2001, representation was provided by the Department, but the Strategic Rail Authority has now taken over this role.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how often he receives reports on (a) punctuality, (b) cancellations, (c) investments made and (d) the safety record of the railways. [41291]
Mr. Spellar: I receive a range of reports and information, in the course of day to day business, on the operation of and investment in the railways.
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