§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions have taken place with Royal Mail representatives regarding the use of railways to transport mail; and what measures have been taken to reduce redundancies. [128243]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Department meets Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues, including progress on the transport review.
Royal Mail envisage that the implementation of the whole transport review will impact on around 2,500 jobs across various parts of its distribution operation, including around 150 in rail.
Royal Mail will seek to achieve any job losses through natural wastage and redeployment of staff within other parts of Royal Mail.
Royal Mail has advised that it has not ruled out the use of rail in the future, and is still talking to a number of rail freight operators who believe they can offer a commercially viable rail solution.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) (what funding the Government provided for the development of partnership working between Royal Mail and trades unions representing employees in its United Kingdom Mails division in(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; [128530]
(2) what representations her Department has made to the management of Royal Mail on the development of partnership working in Royal Mail; [128531]
(3) what asessment she has made of progress in developing partnership working between the management and trades unions in Royal Mail. [128532]
§ Mr. TimmsRoyal Mail were awarded £50,000 under the Partnership at Work Fund in 2002–03 to introduce partnership working at regional, national and area level with the Communication Workers Union and the Communication Managers' Association.
548WThe Department meets Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including progress on developing partnership working. Good progress has been made in setting up a Partnership framework since Lord Sawyer's review in 2001, but there is still some way to go and the current process has stalled. The Department, wherever possible, continues to encourage the management and unions to take forward the Partnership approach set out by Lord Sawyer.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the expenditure by Royal Mail on external consultancy services was in(a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03. [128533]
§ Mr. TimmsExpenditure by Royal Mail on external consultancy services is an operational matter for the company. I have, therefore, asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail to reply direct to the hon. Member.
§ Adam PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions has she had with industry stakeholders with regard to Postcomm's proposed terms of access to Royal Mail services. [129195]
§ Mr. TimmsMinisters regularly receive representations on a range of postal issues. Access pricing policy is, however, a matter for the regulator. The regulator is currently examining the results of its public consultation on this issue, to which a number of industry stakeholders have commented. A full list of respondents and details of representations received are shown on their website: http://www.postcomm.gov.uk
§ Jeff EnnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many lorry movements in and out of Royal Mail terminals have taken place in each of the last three years. [129690]
§ Mr. TimmsThis is an operational matter for Royal Mail Group plc. I have therefore asked the Deputy Chairman of Royal Mail to reply direct to the hon. Member.