Government response
Introduction
Recommendation 1. We commend the Government,
and its predecessor, and transport providers for their willingness
to learn from periods of transport disruption due to adverse weather.
We recommend that, when transport is subject to significant weather
disruption in future, the Government should initiate reviews along
the lines of the Quarmby review to examine what happened and ensure
that lessons are learnt. (Paragraph 8)
DfT Reponse: The Government
shares the Committee's view that lessons should always be learned
after any major incidence of transport disruption to help improve
both mitigation and contingency actions. Whilst we cannot avoid
some disruption during extreme weather, a key focus for the Department
and all those involved in the transport sector after such experiences
is on the adaptive capacity of the transport system to learn from
what had happened. It would however be inappropriate to be overly
prescriptive as to the nature of the lessons learned exercise.
The form that any such reviews take should clearly depend on the
circumstances of each event.
Preparing for severe weather
Recommendation 2. Better medium- and long-range
weather forecasting would assist transport providers and others
in planning to deal with the effects of severe winter weather.
For example, it would give transport operators the opportunity
to warn passengers of when contingency timetables would be likely
to be needed and to get snow and ice clearing equipment into position.
The current seasonal predictions—such as the forecast provided
to the Cabinet Office in October—do not provide a firm basis
on which decision makers can act with confidence. £10 million
would be a small price to pay for improving the Met Office's long-range
forecasting capability, given the cost to the UK economy of transport
disruption due to severe winter weather. We recommend that the
Secretary of State press the Ministry of Defence to investigate
the case for providing the Met Office with additional funding
for enhanced computing power and to report back to us with the
outcome. (Paragraph 15)
DfT Reponse: The Department
for Transport maintains close liaison with the Met Office and
pays particular attention to possible impacts of a range of seasonal
weather conditions on transport networks. During last winter
the weather forecasts presented by the Met Office were broadly
reflective of what occurred. However it remains the case that
there can be variations of severity over relatively small distances
and therefore an element of operational judgement is always required
by the transport providers.
To improve its response capability during the
December 2010 cold spell, the Department for Transport arranged
for a Met Office forecaster to be co-opted to the Department to
provide dedicated briefings to Ministers and officials, including
attending the Winter Network Group which was set up to monitor
salt stocks around the country.
It has been indicated that a £10m investment
would enhance the Met Office's supercomputing capabilities and
allow them to undertake more detailed forecasting. Therefore there
is a need to understand the benefits of more detailed forecasting
and its role alongside other measures designed to increase the
resilience of transport infrastructure to disruption from extreme
winter weather. DfT is working with economic and scientific colleagues
across Government to review the evidence on winter weather patterns,
and test whether current levels of investment in winter resilience
are optimised.
Recommendation 3. We are surprised that the Department
for Transport's climate change adaptation plan does not include
reference to risks associated with severe winter weather, unlike
those produced by the Highways Agency and Network Rail. Given
that climate change does not preclude the occurrence of severe
winters in future, and bearing in mind the uncertainties in modelling
the UK's climate identified by Sir John Beddington, we recommend
that the final version of the Department's plan, which is due
to be signed off in spring 2012, should include reference to the
risk of severe winter weather in future and how this should be
planned for. (Paragraph 17)
DfT Reponse: The Department
for Transport published its Departmental Adaptation Plan (DAP)
on the DEFRA website in March 2010 alongside those of 15 other
Government Departments.[2]
DAPs will be superseded in 2012 by a National Adaptation Programme.
DAPs demonstrate the Government's commitment to adapting to the
risks and opportunities of long term climate change. The Highways
Agency and Network Rail have also produced statutory reports on
adapting to climate change as required under the 2008 Climate
Change Act Reporting Power.[3]
Their final reports will be published this summer demonstrating
how current weather patterns affect their infrastructure and operations
and examining how they may be affected in view of future climate
projections.
The Department for Transport's DAP is based on latest
scientific research, principally the UK 2009 Climate Projections
(UKCP09) which models climate change from the 2020s. It refers
to risks associated with severe winter weather (e.g. floods and
storms) but does not specifically mention snow and ice because
UKCP09's projection of a warming climate means such events are
likely to reduce in frequency and severity.
Sir John Beddington's report accepts there are uncertainties
and limitations in our ability to predict future severe winters,
but broadly endorses the finding that the available climate science
indicates a reducing likelihood of severe winters in future due
to the gradual, long term warming of the climate.
We will continue to use the DAP and thereafter the
National Adaptation Programme, as mechanisms for proactively planning
for long-term climate change. We will also continue to build resilience
to short-term weather risks, including snow and ice, through the
Cabinet Office National Risk Register.
Recommendation 4. There is undoubtedly more that
could and should be done to ensure that the UK's transport systems
are more resilient to severe winter weather, as this report will
show. More realistic expectations about what can be achieved during
severe weather and the level of winter resilience which is affordable
are also necessary. A level of immediate disruption in severe
weather is likely but transport providers should focus on planning
to recover from periods of severe weather disruption as quickly
as practicable, bearing in mind the trade-off between costs and
benefits in investing in winter resilience. (Paragraph 20)
DfT Reponse: Following
the weather related transport disruptions in late 2010, the Secretary
of State for Transport agreed with the Secretary of State for
Energy and Climate Change and the Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs that the Chief Economists and Scientists
of their respective departments should review the evidence on
winter weather patterns, and test whether current levels of investment
in winter resilience are optimised.
In response to this request, the Cabinet Office has
set up a new inter-departmental Infrastructure Resilience and
Economic Advisory Committee (IREAC), which includes senior economists,
scientists and resilience experts from DfT, DECC, DEFRA and the
Government Office for Science.
The Department for Transport is leading analysis
to assess the costs and benefits of a range of potential measures
to increase the resilience of transport infrastructure to severe
winter weather and will report its findings to the IREAC over
the summer.
Recommendation 5. We recommend that the Highways
Agency work with motoring organisations such as the AA and the
RAC to launch a high profile publicity campaign about winter preparedness
in autumn 2011. This campaign should aim to increase the proportion
of motorists taking precautions, such as keeping a shovel and
a blanket in the boot of their cars, next winter to at least 60%.
The Government should report back to us in early 2012 about whether
this has been achieved. (Paragraph 21)
DfT Reponse: The Highways
Agency already runs partnership marketing campaigns on this issue,
supported by press and social media activity. It will consider
what else could be done, taking into account current restrictions
on marketing expenditure and will be discussing this with motoring
organisations over the summer period.
Recommendation 6. We recommend that the Government
and the police should work together to develop clearer 'travel
warnings' which specify more precisely which journeys should not
be undertaken in severe weather conditions. For example, a 'severe
weather travel warning' might indicate that only journeys necessitated
by a medical or other serious emergency should be undertaken,
while a lower-level travel warning should be used to deter journeys
undertaking for social reasons. We also recommend that the Government
sponsor research into how warning messages about travel influence
behaviour. (Paragraph 22)
DfT Reponse: The Met Office
issues warnings about severe weather conditions. It is up to drivers
to consider these warnings alongside the advice on "Driving
in adverse weather conditions" set out in rules 226 - 237
of The Official Highway Code.[4]
The Highways Agency already issues specific "Amber
Alert" warnings to drivers of HGVs, motorcyclists and people
towing high-sided vehicles when strong winds are forecast, and
we issue advice to road users through the media when severe weather
is forecast. We are currently working with the Met Office to include
warnings of snow/ice in these alerts. In addition, the Agency
will be considering strengthening advisory messages and targeting
them more closely to specific groups of road users in the light
of the report from the Transport Select Committee in May. The
Agency will also give consideration to working together with the
Police on stronger more targeted 'travel warnings'.
The Department for Transport and the Agency will
consider the recommendation to sponsor research on the impact
of warning messages on the public's travel behaviour alongside
other research priorities.
We will keep the Select Committee informed of progress.
Recommendation 7. We also recommend that the Department's
current consideration of alternatives to travel should acknowledge
the importance of improving facilities and arrangements for remote
working and tele- and videoconferencing in maintaining economic
activity during periods of severe weather disruption. Any proposals
resulting from the Department's recent call for evidence on this
issue should include improvements to the resilience and capacity
of remote access networks, so that more people can work at home
during periods of disruption. (Paragraph 23)
DfT Reponse: The Government
acknowledges the importance of remote working and other alternatives
to travel in ensuring business continuity during periods of severe
weather disruption. The Department for Transport's response to
the current Call for Evidence,[5]
and any strategy that is developed following this, will acknowledge
the benefits of alternatives to travel in this area.
The Government has invested £530m in the current
spending review period to implement universal broadband across
the UK. This will be a major factor in enabling the use of remote
working. However, individual remote access networks are a matter
for individual businesses, and it is their responsibility to ensure
they have suitable, tested systems in place to enable business
continuity in times of disruption. Although the Department can
recommend that businesses ensure they have a suitable remote access
network to provide resilience in times of severe weather, it is
for individual businesses to implement business continuity plans
that meet their own needs.
Recommendation 8. We recommend that, before next
winter, the Government should publish online practical advice
about how individuals and communities can overcome problems caused
by severe winter weather. This information should also include
guidance for local authorities on enabling and encouraging voluntary
action, for example in relation to the recruitment of volunteer
snow wardens. (Paragraph 26)
DfT Reponse: In response
to the Independent Winter Resilience Report the Government published
in October 2010 a common sense guide to help shop keepers and
residents who want to clear their paths from snow. This guide
reassures the public that if they use a common sense approach
and want to show community spirit in clearing snow and ice from
the front of their homes, pavements and other public spaces, then
they can do so in a safe manner without fear of legal action.
The Department for Transport brought this guidance to the attention
of all local authorities, with a view to them disseminating the
information more widely to their communities. A copy of the guide
is available on the DirectGov website.[6]
In addition, the Department for Communities and Local Government
published guidance for community action during severe weather.[7]
We are also aware of a number of authorities who
have set up voluntary snow warden schemes. In preparation for
winter 2011-12, we are looking at how these and other examples
of community action can be enabled and encouraged more widely.
Recommendation 9. Given the cost of transport
disruption to the UK economy, we are sympathetic to the argument
that it would be beneficial if more money were spent on winter
resilience. Extra investment should be targeted on those parts
of the travel network which have shown themselves to be least
resilient in recent years and where the costs of disruption are
highest. (Paragraph 30)
DfT Reponse: We have already
confirmed in response to Recommendation 4 above that, following
an initiative from the Secretary of State for Transport, a cross-departmental
working group was set up to consider the extent to which there
was an argument and business case for increased investment levels
in winter resilience.
Recommendation 10. We recommend that the Secretary
of State convene a third rail working group, bringing together
Network Rail, the train operators, and other interested parties,
including passenger groups, to assess how the network south of
the Thames can be made more resilient, focusing in the first instance
on quick fixes for next winter and then devising costed options
for more extensive work for the next Network Rail control period.
We also recommend that the Secretary of State should commit the
Government to the long-term aim of replacing the existing third
rail network with a more resilient form of electrification. The
working group should consider how this can be achieved and report
to Government with an estimate of timescale and cost. We recommend
that this report should be published in due course. (Paragraph
34)
DfT Reponse: The Rail
Industry's National Task Force (NTF) is already leading a number
of workstreams intended to build on lessons from last winter's
operational difficulties, and to mitigate the third rail network's
exposure to severe winter weather in good time for next winter.
The Government does not believe that there would be any benefit
from creating a new working group to oversee this work.
The rail industry is assessing the case for replacing
the third rail system over time with an overhead electrification
system. Such a system would be more energy efficient as well
as providing better resilience in severe winter weather. The industry's
findings are expected to be published later in the summer. However,
at this stage it would be premature to commit to the very substantial
investment which such a change would involve.
Recommendation 11. Criticism that major airports
under-invested in winter resilience equipment would appear to
be borne out by the substantial investments by the owners of both
Gatwick and Heathrow Airports in such equipment after December's
disruption. (Paragraph 36)
DfT Reponse: The Government
would agree with the broad thrust of the Committee's observation
on the level of airports' investment in winter resilience. However,
both Heathrow's and Gatwick's operators have since demonstrated
their commitment to putting in place revised arrangements and
new investment to reduce the risk of disruption from future severe
weather events. Following publication of the Heathrow Winter
Resilience Inquiry report, chaired by Professor Begg, BAA announced
in March an additional £50million for a new resilience investment
plan. Gatwick's operator also invested £8million in further
snow and ice clearance equipment soon after the airport's temporary
closure at the end of November 2010.
Recommendation 12. All in all, the Begg report
and the evidence we received from the aviation sector give the
impression that Heathrow was totally unprepared to recover from
any major incident which necessitated its closure. (Paragraph
37)
DfT Reponse: BAA has already
confirmed that the exceptionally severe weather during mid-December
to Christmas 2010 showed that its previously agreed winter resilience
provisions at Heathrow were insufficient.
The Government is satisfied that BAA has responded
proportionately to the events of last December, and is taking
the necessary steps to ensure that Heathrow is much better prepared
to deal with any similar weather disruption in the future.
The recommendations from the Heathrow Winter Resilience
Inquiry report calling for improvements to airport snow plans,
provision of additional snow clearing equipment, increases to
staff resources and improving crisis management and command and
control arrangements, have helped focus BAA's response.
At the time the Inquiry's report was published BAA
also announced plans to develop a £50 million Heathrow resilience
investment plan, which it will recommend to airlines and the Civil
Aviation Authority, the independent aviation regulator.
Recommendation 13. Although it is for the private
sector to provide the additional investment in winter resilience
recommended by the Begg report, we consider that the Department
for Transport should play an active role in ensuring that this
investment is delivered. Consequently we recommend that the Secretary
of State should designate a senior official within his department
as having oversight of snow plans and other incident recovery
plans at Heathrow and the UK's other main airports. This role
should have responsibility for signing off airport snow plans
and other major incident plans, contributing the Government's
view to discussions about investment in equipment for dealing
with snow and ice and other sources of disruption and participating,
on behalf of the Secretary of State, in "Gold" command
teams providing strategic leadership during crises. Government
oversight of incident recovery plans is particularly important
in relation to Heathrow, to help maintain its status as an international
hub airport. (Paragraph 38)
DfT Reponse: The Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA), as the UK's independent aviation regulator,
is the most appropriate body to provide the necessary oversight
of airports' resilience plans.
The Department for Transport will however continue
to monitor the impacts on airports and engage with operators and
the regulator on strategic matters.
However, in terms of responding to specific severe
weather events, individual airport operators are best placed to
take the lead in managing their airport infrastructure in response
to such crises, taking into account the related operational and
safety factors.
The Department has already announced that it has
secured Parliamentary time in the next session to reform the current
economic regulatory regime, including introduction of a new licensing
system to give the CAA more flexibility, where appropriate, to
require an improvement in airports' resilience to severe weather.
This will ensure that the CAA has the necessary powers - including
sanctions - to ensure that airport operators build the appropriate
resilience measures into their plans.
The CAA will be taking forward work on improving
the resilience of the UK's airports, drawing on the recommendations
of the South East Airports Taskforce (SEAT) sub-group on Punctuality,
Delay and Resilience. This will include consideration of the progress
made in implementing the Begg report recommendations.
The Committee acknowledges that it is for the private
sector airport operators to provide additional investment in winter
resilience. In this regard BAA has already demonstrated their
commitment to address the failings in Heathrow's response to the
severe weather in December, by accepting all the recommendations
in the Winter Resilience Inquiry report and investing further
in its resilience plan.
BAA plans to report publicly to the Secretary of
State on its progress in implementing the Begg report recommendations
before next winter. CAA and Departmental officials will
review the findings of this report.
At Gatwick, the benefits of the additional investment
put in place immediately following its temporary closure in early
December 2010 were demonstrated in the airport's much improved
response to the second snow event later in December.
Recommendation 14. We would expect all major transport
operators and infrastructure providers to ensure that their contingency
planning took account of the impact of their winter resilience
operations on other modes. Where conflicting priorities cannot
be resolved, particularly, for example, in relation to access
to airports, the Government should step in. We recommend that
the Department for Transport should develop and publish criteria
setting out when it will ensure that the impact of winter resilience
planning by one part of the transport system takes due account
of other modes. (Paragraph 40)
DfT Reponse: The Government
agrees with the Committee that all transport operators and infrastructure
owners should have well prepared severe weather policies and plans.
These should set out how they propose to collaborate and engage
with a range of key stakeholders to meet their statutory and local
requirements to enable them to more effectively prioritise their
response and help ensure disruption is minimised and travel conditions
are as safe as possible during winters.
We look to Highway Authorities to review their winter
service plans annually in consultation with a range of stakeholders
including other infrastructure operators such as the Highways
Agency, train operating companies and if appropriate, airports
and ports to address local access issues.
This was endorsed by the independent Winter Resilience
Report and Audit carried out last year,[8]
which called for "…better consultation and engagement
between highway authorities and transport providers". The
recommendations from these reviews are still being implemented
and it is important to allow the authorities and operators time
to implement them and conduct their own assessments as part of
the preparations and planning for the next winter season.
The Government continues to urge local highway authorities
and transport operators to take action to deliver the improvements
highlighted by the winter resilience audit and reviews in advance
of next winter and will look to them to have taken on board the
guidance provided; to have embedded efficient good practice and
through their local winter service reviews and taken steps to
put in place practical arrangements to ensure more effective coordination
and clarity of responsibilities. The Department will continue
to monitor this process.
Recommendation 15. We recommend that the Government
provide guidance to local authorities about publishing their plans
for transport networks' winter resilience in draft so that all
interested parties can comment and ensure consistency with their
own plans. (Paragraph 41)
DfT Reponse: Guidance
to local authorities is already available which recommends that
they have in place an operational plan setting out their policies
and actions in respect of winter services and that they treat
this as an integral part of wider general resilience planning.
Many authorities regularly review and update their
plans, as well as publishing them on their website. We agree that
it is important that local authorities continue to consult with
interested parties including their local community about winter
service preparations and how they are managing their network.
In response to Government recommendations and best practice, many
local authorities already use their websites and other methods
of communication to issue updates on road conditions and other
operational transport activities for which they are responsible
during adverse weather events.
Recommendation 16. The strategic salt arrangements
introduced in 2010 helped ensure that local authorities had sufficient
salt to keep main roads open during a particularly severe winter.
To this extent it was a considerable success. The criticisms we
heard of this year's arrangements were largely points of detail
which we expect the Government to consider in reviewing the arrangements
ahead of next winter. In particular, we recommend that the Government
consider ways of ensuring that strategic salt supply arrangements
are more transparent to local authorities and that new guidance
on salt spreading rates is followed. We call on the Government
to publish a written statement on the outcome of its review of
the strategic salt arrangements before next winter. (Paragraph
44)
DfT Reponse: The Government
welcomes the Committee's support of the many precautionary steps
it put in place to bolster resilience for the winter period, and
which saw the country enter the winter better prepared than in
previous years. But we are not complacent. Following the
winter, the Department for Transport has carried out a review
exercise with the aim of identifying any lessons learned that
can be taken forward to improve future winter crisis response
mechanisms.
For example, we now have arrangements in place for
regular monitoring of salt stocks, so that we can identify risks
early on and take any further action where necessary, including
providing advice to local highways authorities. In advance of
last winter and during the winter itself the Government was proactive
in its engagement with local authorities to ensure an effective
emergency response to the ahead of and during the winter. This
included a joint letter from the Secretaries of State for Transport
and Communities and Local Government to each English local authority
on 12 November 2010, stressing the importance of an effective
winter service strategy and a further reminder in December 2010
of guidance produced by the Department with the UK Roads Liaison
Group (UKRLG) on the range of actions that can be taken with regards
to winter service and measures to ensure that salt stocks last
longer.
In preparing for the forthcoming winter season, the
Department for Transport has continued to work throughout the
year with the local government sector to ensure that we further
improve resilience for future winters. This may include updating
and providing further guidance if required. Should this be required
we will ensure that the Parliament is kept informed.
Information provision and passenger welfare
Recommendation 17. In our view, the rail industry
needs to do far more to look after the interests of passengers
during periods of disruption. Culture change is urgently required:
the legacy of privatisation cannot be used to excuse the continuing
inability of train companies to provide accurate information to
passengers about delays and cancellations. We fully support the
Office of Rail Regulation's initiative to clarify responsibilities
for providing accurate information. The licence changes proposed
by the ORR should be introduced as soon as possible and backed
up by effective regulation. By next winter, there should be clarity
within the industry about who is responsible for real time information
provision and customer-focused timetable systems should always
display accurate information. Failures in information provision
should cost the firms responsible money. (Paragraph 49)
DfT Reponse: The Government
fully acknowledges that more needs to be done in this area.
The Rail Industry's National Task Force (NTF) is leading a number
of workstreams intended to improve the speed and accuracy of the
provision of information during periods of disruption. Significant
improvements should be in place by the end of 2011, with further
improvements to follow.
Recommendation 18. In addition, we are attracted
by the idea of using regional control centres to take charge of
real time communications with passengers during periods of disruption.
We recommend that the Department investigate this option with
a view to assessing whether regulatory action is required to achieve
it. (Paragraph 50)
DfT Reponse: Many of the
systems which drive the provision of rail passenger information
are at national level. It is not clear that providing an additional
process at regional level would deliver benefits. Real-time station
and line of route information is already the responsibility of
train operating companies, and improving this is part of the NTF's
activity. However the Government expects the work being undertaken
by the NTF to improve passenger information during disruption
to consider all practicable options, including the possible use
of regional control systems.
Recommendation 19. Passenger welfare should be
at the heart of airport operations. We concur with the recommendation
of the Begg report that Heathrow should develop a welfare plan
for passengers during periods of disruption: other airports should
do the same. It is unacceptable that such plans do not already
exist. If airlines fail to meet their obligations to accommodate
stranded passengers, airports should be prepared to step into
the breach. We would support measures by which airport operators
could reclaim the costs of providing support to stranded passengers
from airlines which had not discharged their legal responsibilities
and we recommend that the CAA investigate how this can be achieved.
(Paragraph 52)
DfT Reponse: The Government
agrees with the Committee that it is critical to ensure the welfare
of passengers caught up in air service disruptions. In this regard
it is noted that BAA has accepted the Heathrow Winter Resilience
Inquiry Report's recommendation for a passenger welfare plan.
The Department is engaging regularly with BAA on progress, and
will engage with other airport operators who we expect to follow
Heathrow's example if required.
Any stranded passengers will be best looked after
when airlines, airports, handling agents and other staff across
the airport all work together to provide care and assistance.
Where there is an identified need for passenger welfare plans
to help prepare for, and coordinate, such efforts, they should
be encouraged. However, the legal responsibility to provide care
and assistance to passengers remains that of airlines. It is
important that any initiatives to bolster the provision of passenger
welfare during periods of disruption, for instance through passenger
welfare plans, do not create any uncertainty in this area.
During and immediately following the most recent
severe winter weather disruption, the CAA began gathering information
and views on the impacts of the disruption, focussing its work
on the issues faced by passengers directly across all UK airports.
The CAA's review has now concluded, and it has begun engaging
with industry on implementing its recommendations. The CAA's
report will be published once it has concluded its engagement
with industry.
Airport stakeholders may wish to include in their
welfare plans a process to enable any party to the plan that has
suffered financial harm as a result of the failure of any other
party, to meet its obligations under the plan to claim financial
compensation from that party. The CAA's view is that any such
process must be reciprocal, to enable, for example, airlines to
claim for compensation if the airport has failed to meet its obligations
under the plan, but also to enable airports to claim for compensation
from airlines that have not met their obligations (particularly
in relation to caring for passengers in accordance with their
legal obligations).
Recommendation 20. December's events have highlighted
the need for the regulatory regime applying to airports to be
revamped so that it properly takes account of passenger welfare
in periods of disruption. We welcome the Government's intention
to introduce legislation and we particularly welcome the Secretary
of State's announcement that the Bill will be published in draft.
We look forward to scrutinising the draft Bill when it is published.
(Paragraph 53)
DfT Reponse: The Secretary
of State for Transport announced on the 3rd of March 2011
that legislation to reform the framework for airport economic
regulation will be introduced early in the next Parliamentary
session.[9]
On the 14th of March he informed the Transport Committee
of his plans to publish a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny
before it is introduced into Parliament.
The Government will replace the existing legislative
framework for airport economic regulation with a more flexible
one which will deliver better outcomes for passengers.[10]
The Government wants a regime that delivers:
- improvements in the way airports operate their
facilities;
- incentives to invest in the facilities that passengers
need; and
- the ability to deliver these benefits with the
minimum of regulatory burdens.
The CAA would have a new primary duty that would
put the interests of passengers unambiguously at the heart of
the regulatory regime. This would be supplemented by subordinate
duties (for example a financing duty) on the CAA to seek to ensure
that a licence holder is able to finance its provision of airport
services).[11]
There would also be a system of appeals to ensure the CAA is appropriately
accountable.
Under the new regime, there would be individual licences
for airports subject to economic regulation. This would
give CAA stronger and more flexible powers to respond to important
passenger issues and allow it to impose licence conditions which
better target airport resilience issues (for example severe winter
weather). There would be stronger sanctions, including financial
penalties, to tackle poor performance and enforce licence conditions.
The new regime should therefore facilitate greater airport resilience
and a better passenger experience during disruption.
Recommendation 21. In principle, we can see the
benefits to passengers of imposing an emergency timetable at busy
airports during periods of disruption, particularly so that passengers
can be sure of whether or not their flight will take off. However,
the CAA must have a role in ensuring that decisions concerning
the design and implementation of an emergency timetable are fair
and transparent and in providing airlines with a right of appeal.
Consideration must also be given to financial compensation to
airlines whose flights are grounded because an emergency timetable
has been implemented. (Paragraph 55)
DfT Reponse: Airports'
reduced capacity plans are in essence the aviation industry's
emergency timetables and the Government agrees that the industry
needs to make sure these plans are implemented effectively.
Co-ordination between BAA and airline partners at
Heathrow has led to the approval of a Local Rule that covers procedures
for implementation during temporary periods of reduced capacity,
including balancing available airport capacity with flight demand
as equitably as possible; acting in the interests of disrupted
passengers; and resuming normal operations as soon as is practically
possible.
The South East Airports Taskforce has examined resilience
issues at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted as part of its work,
and will report in July. Following this, the CAA will continue
further work on improving airports' resilience, including monitoring
the progress made by airports to improve their performance, for
example through the implementation of agreed capacity reduction
plans where appropriate.
Recommendation 22. The Highways Agency is right
to look into ways of minimising the impact of intense periods
of snowfall on major roads, particularly in order to avoid large
numbers of motorists being caught up for extended periods in queues
because of road closures. We recommend that greater use be made
of roadside information displays as well as more sophisticated
in-car information systems, such as the now ubiquitous sat-navs,
to provide motorists with real time information about road conditions
and disruption. (Paragraph 58)
DfT Reponse: In-vehicle
and mobile device technology has transformed access to transport
information. The Highways Agency makes its data freely available
so that road users can be provided with traffic information to
plan their journeys. The Highways Agency is investigating a variety
of channels by which it can pass up to the minute information
and advice to road users at all times, and particularly during
periods of severe weather. These include greater use of Variable
Message Signs (VMS) for information about expected conditions
and using developing technologies to pass traffic information
to in-car devices.
Recommendation 23. We also recommend that the
Highways Agency and police forces should continue to develop more
proactive responses to dealing with blockages in the strategic
road network, including, for example, by identifying areas which
are susceptible to accidents and ensuring that traffic officers
are located there during severe weather and ensuring that motorists
are not directed on to motorways which are closed in bad weather.
(Paragraph 59)
DfT Reponse: The Highways
Agency accepts this recommendation. It already requires its service
providers to produce a Severe Weather Plan (SWP) and to review
them annually. This document describes the procedures and operational
arrangements for the delivery of an effective severe weather service.
The SWP already includes the identification of known vulnerable
locations with associated remedial measures. The SWP will be developed
further to include key transport hubs that may require special
consideration together with more detailed contingency plans to
better mitigate severe weather impacts.
Recommendation 24. Finally, we recommend that
the Government consider the Freight Transport Association's suggestion
of introducing snow and ice warnings for HGVs, akin to strong
wind warnings, which could play a role in reducing the number
of HGVs which cause major delays by jack-knifing. (Paragraph 60)
DfT Reponse: The Met Office
already issue warnings about severe weather conditions. It is
up to drivers to consider these warnings alongside the advice
on "Driving in adverse weather conditions" set out in
rules 226 - 237 of The Official Highway Code.[12]
Furthermore the Highways Agency has held discussions
with the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association
on whether its current system for issuing warnings during high
winds could be extended to snow events. These have been very positive
and further meetings are scheduled to enable decisions to be taken
before next winter on how to implement effectively this initiative
and to discuss any further ideas they may have for reducing the
impact of jack knifed HGVs on the strategic road network.
Conclusion
Recommendation 25. Our recommendations are a sensible
package of measures which will not cost a large sum of money to
implement but which, taken together, will help reduce the enormous
cost of severe weather disruption to the UK economy. After three
severe winters in succession the Secretary of State is well placed
to ensure that the winter resilience of the UK's transport networks
is significantly enhanced and we now look to him to act. (Paragraph
64)
DfT Reponse: The Government
welcomes the Committee's helpful report. We agree that there
will inevitably be some transport disruption in instances of extreme
weather. The severe and prolonged snow and icy conditions during
the winter 2010-11 presented transport operators, not just in
the UK, but across most of Northern Europe, with very difficult
operational challenges.
As a result of the range of measures implemented
by central and local Government and others, the country entered
last winter better prepared than in previous years. Amongst
the many actions we took, we increased resilience in the domestic
salt market by setting up a national strategic salt reserve; advised
highway authorities on how to reduce and prioritise salt usage;
coordinated decision making on distribution and monitoring; proactively
engaged transport operators as they made preparations for the
winter season to ensure that they were doing everything they could
to minimise disruption to passengers and keep them informed of
any changes to services and exhorted all authorities and transport
operators to implement the recommendations of the independent
Winter Resilience Review. However much of the country was
hit with exceptionally severe weather, which meant that, whilst
the country generally coped better with the impact of the severe
weather than in previous years, there were inevitably pressures
on the transport services which in some instances were not able
to meet satisfactorily the challenges presented.
There are lessons to be learned from our performance
in every bout of bad weather and it is important that we learn
those now. That is why the Government agrees with the Transport
Select Committee that more can still be done. The focus of the
Department and the transport operators should be on continuously
making improvements to the resilience of transport networks whilst
learning any lessons quickly to ensure we can better meet any
future winter weather challenges.
This helpful report from the Select Committee is
a constructive and significant reminder of the need to build on
improvements delivered so far, address any outstanding gaps in
resilience and to develop practical measures to deliver improvements
in the effectiveness of the transport sectors response in future.
We have already started work to improve our preparedness for
the coming winter and have already outlined some of these in the
response to the above recommendations.
The Government will continue to do everything possible
to keep disruption to a minimum during instances of severe winter
weather and ensure that in the event of any inevitable disruption
that systems can recover as quickly as possible. At the same
time we will continue to do whatever is necessary to support essential
services, and to provide advice to businesses and householders
on steps they can take to help themselves and others.
2
www.archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/programme/across-government.htm
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3
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/sectors/reporting-authorities/reporting-authorities-reports/
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4
www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Highway
Code.
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5
www2.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/DfT-2011-10
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6
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_191868
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7
www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1789192.pdf
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8
http://transportwinterresilience.independent.gov.uk/index
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9
http://www.dft.gov.uk/topics/airports/economic-regulation-of-airports/
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10
Under the current legislative regime (Part IV of the Airports
Act 1986) charges at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports are
presently regulated by the CAA. Back
11
The Government's view is that the duty should be interpreted as
applying to an efficient operator, and that the regulator is under
no obligation to bail out an operator that faces financial difficulties.
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12
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Highway_Code
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