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13 July 2009 : Column 96W—continued


Network Rail: Directors

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2009, Official Report, columns 611-2W, on Network Rail: directors, whether he has identified criteria on which he would consider appointing a special director to Network Rail. [285758]

Chris Mole: No consideration has been given to identifying such criteria.

Public Expenditure

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the effects on his Department's priorities and plans of the re-allocation of funding announced in the White Paper, Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654; [286327]

(2) what proportion of the £1.5 billion to be allocated to new housing announced in Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, will be drawn from his Department's budgets. [286328]

Chris Mole: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 9 July 2009, Official Report, columns 921-22W.

Public Transport: Greater Manchester

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated for the purposes of improving public transport (a) in each local authority area in Greater Manchester and (b) in England in each of the last five years. [285370]

Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block funding to local transport authorities outside London for capital investment in transport. Funding is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, including support of public transport. The following table shows funding support in Greater Manchester and England between 2005-06 and 2009-10:


13 July 2009 : Column 97W
Integrated transport funding
£ million

2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06

Greater Manchester

Bolton

1.577

2.244

1.757

1.548

1.694

Bury

1.004

1.488

1.207

1.177

1.290

Manchester

5.203

6.048

5.442

5.358

4.189

Oldham

1.321

1.925

1.852

1.852

2.000

Rochdale

1.197

1.797

1.433

1.332

1.462

Salford

1.457

2.261

2.261

2.260

2.481

Stockport

4.511

5.084

4.837

4.493

1.657

Tameside

2.345

2.871

2.606

2.544

1.536

Trafford

1.148

1.640

1.321

1.265

1.397

Wigan

1.741

2.449

1.881

1..558

1.706

GMITA(1)

26.528

17.905

21.788

16.528

17.088

England

589.393

576.791

571.017

546.999

552.528

(1) GMITA-Greater Manchester integrated transport authority

Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant, but the Department provides support for public transport through rural bus subsidy and special grant funding to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concessionary bus travel. The figures are as follows:

Rural bus subsidy
£ million

Greater Manchester England

2009-10

0.329

58.500

2008-09

0.320

57.000

2007-08

0.312

55.598

2006-07

0.305

54.300

2005-06

0.298

52.999


Concessionary fares funding
£ million

Greater Manchester ITA England

2009-10

10.800

217.000

2008-09

10.500

212.000


The Department has supported the following major schemes over the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 in the Greater Manchester area.

£ million

Northern Orbital quality bus corridor (GMITA)

2.459

South East Manchester quality bus network (GMITA)

11.716

Manchester Metrolink (GMITA)

252.509

Greater Manchester urban traffic control (Manchester City Council)

8


Major project allocations in England (£ million)( 1) *
England £ million

2009-10

383.602

2008-09

467.085

2007-08

264.490

(1) The England figures cover local transport authorities outside London and include funding to improve highways as well as public transport schemes.

Funding support for rail services and bus service operators grant are not available on the basis of local authority boundaries.


13 July 2009 : Column 98W

Railways

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department (a) is funding and (b) plans to fund any projects included in the rail Control Period Four programme. [284812]

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has funding to deliver the projects included in the programme for Control Period Four.

Railways: Concessions

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what consultation with passengers took place before the introduction of the recent changes in terms and conditions for Network Railcards. [284729]

Chris Mole: Network Railcards are offered commercially by train operators.

Consultation on any proposed changes to the terms and conditions for the Network Railcard are a matter for the participating Train Operators acting together through their industry body, the Association of Train Operating Companies.

Railways: Finance

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much the Exchequer received from (a) GNER and (b) National Express East Coast in each year that each held the East Coast Main Line franchise; and what profits each reported to his Department in respect of its operation of the franchise in each such year. [286375]

Chris Mole: Details of subsidy paid and premiums received from all Train Operating Companies are published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in National Rail Trends on an annual basis. This document is available in the Library of the House and on the ORR's website at:

Details of the profits generated by Great North Eastern Railway and National Express are contained in the certified company accounts which are held at Companies House.

Railways: Franchises

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanisms are in place to ensure the continuity of rail services in the event of the default of a franchisee; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such provision. [283040]

Chris Mole: Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended by the Railways Act 2005) places a duty on the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure passenger services are maintained in the event that a franchise is not in place.

Contingency plans are in place to deal with a franchise failure. These plans are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are still fit for purpose.


13 July 2009 : Column 99W

The cost of any such provision would depend on the specific circumstances of the case.

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many staff of his Department would be required to manage the return of a franchise by a train operating company. [283041]

Chris Mole: Staffing requirements would depend on the specific franchise returned and the circumstances at the time of the return.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what legal advice he has received with regard to cross default provisions in rail franchise contracts; [285770]

(2) if he will publish any legal advice he has received with regard to cross default provisions in rail franchise contracts. [285771]

Chris Mole: Legal advice on the issue of cross default in the context of the franchise agreement is privileged and confidential; therefore, it will not be published or divulged.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the (a) punctuality and (b) reliability of the rail service on the Wimbledon loop line (i) before and (ii) after the award of the franchise to First Capital Connect. [285806]

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport holds information on punctuality and reliability for each train operator for routes as a whole. The service on the Wimbledon Loop is assessed as part of the Thameslink route and not broken down into specific sections.

The Public Performance Measure Moving Annual Average (PMM MAA) for performance before the start of the First Capital Connect Franchise (April 2006) was 86.2 per cent. The latest PPM MAA performance figure is 89.2 per cent. on the Thameslink route.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to Chart 5 of his Department's publication, Franchise Evaluation Process Charts, May 2008, Selection of winning bid, whether the National Express East Coast bid for the Inter City East Coast franchise awarded in 2007 had a greater than 2.5 per cent. advantage in the delivery plan score against the next best bid, after an assessment of the affordability, compliance and deliverability of the bid had been as completed. [285855]

Chris Mole: The Inter City East Coast Franchise was let on 13 August 2007. A January 2007 version of the Franchise Evaluation Process Charts was used in the evaluation process.

National Express East Coast bid for the Inter City East Coast franchise had a greater than 2.5 per cent advantage in its deliverability score over the lead risk adjusted net present value bidder. Both bids were within the risk adjusted net present value materiality threshold.


13 July 2009 : Column 100W

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to Chart 4 of his Department's publication, Franchise Evaluation Process Charts, May 2008, categorisation of financial risk, what category of financial risk was awarded to the National Express East Coast bid financial for the Inter City East Coast franchise. [285856]

Chris Mole: The Intercity East Coast Franchise was let on 13 August 2007. A January 2007 version of the Franchise Evaluation Process Charts was used in the evaluation process.

National Express East Coast bid was categorised as medium financial risk.

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects on his Department's plans for transport schemes of the return to public ownership of the East Coast mainline franchise. [286326]

Chris Mole: The temporary transfer of operation of the east coast main line train services to a public sector company will, in itself, have no impact on the plans for long term development of those services or other transport schemes.


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