§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on how the(a) Government and (b) Railtrack administrator will replace the £445 million due to be raised by Railtrack as part of the Renewco arrangement. [18951]
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§ Mr. JamiesonThe cash requirements of Railtrack in administration are being financed by a loan from Government.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what payments were made from(a) the Treasury, (b) his Department, (c) the SRA and (d) the Rail Regulator to Railtrack between 1996 and 5 October 2001; and if he will list the dates on which these payments were made and what they were for. [18948]
§ Mr. JamiesonBetween 1996 and 5 October 2001, no payments were made to Railtrack by the Treasury or the Rail Regulator. For payments made by my Department, and for payments of network grant made by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), I refer to my reply to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 26 October 2001,Official Report, columns 424–25W. Between 1 April and 5 October 2001, the SRA paid some £24 million to Railtrack for feasibility work.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what date Railtrack formally requested additional investment funding from the Government above the amounts in the Regulator's most recent review. [18955]
§ Mr. JamiesonIn the course of discussions over the summer, Railtrack's advisers first identified three options for the company—restructuring, renationalisation and, as they described it, receivership. It was agreed that Railtrack would develop proposals for the additional finance the company required and possible restructuring. Under these proposals, Railtrack requested additional uncapped subsidy from the Government, and a suspension of the regulatory regime administered by the Rail Regulator.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what payments were scheduled to be made to Railtrack from 5 October until 5 April 2006, from(a) the Treasury, (b) his Department, (c) the SRA and (d) the Rail Regulator; and if he will list the dates on which these payments were due to be made and what they were for. [18947]
§ Mr. JamiesonBetween 5 October 2001 and 5 April 2006, no payments are scheduled to be made to Railtrack by the Treasury or the Rail Regulator. Apart from repayable cash advances made since 7 October 2001 to Railtrack in administration under the Loan Agreement, no payments are scheduled to be made by my Department. For payments of network grant to be made by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in respect of the (October 2000) final conclusions of the Rail Regulator's periodic review of access charges, I refer to Appendix D of those conclusions.
Under the 2 April 2001 agreement between the Government and Railtrack, the SRA is scheduled to make the following payments of network grant to the company on the following dates:
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£ million1,2 Due payment date Amount 1 April 2002 217.5 1 October 2002 217.5 1 April 2003 142.5 1 October 2003 142.5 1 April 2004 117.5
£ million1,2 Due payment date Amount 1 October 2004 117.5 1 April 2005 77.5 1 October 2005 77.5 1 In 2000–01 prices. 2 Payments from 1 April 2003 onwards are to be increased by an adjustment for freight access income. The size of the adjustment to each payment will be one-sixth of the difference between the total amount of freight income allowed for in the second regulatory control period in the Regulator's final conclusion on passenger charges and that to emerge from the Regulator's freight charging review.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what date his Department last discussed Railtrack administration with(a) the Treasury and (b) the No. 10 Policy Unit. [18936]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department has regular contacts with the Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Directorate on a range of issues.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what cash(a)guarantees and (b) sums have been made available to the administrator of Railtrack plc. [19424]
§ Mr. SpellarOn the question of cash made available to the administrator, I refer the right hon. Member to my reply to him of 22 November 2001,Official Report, column 388W. The administrator is obliged to use reasonable endeavours to procure commercial bank facilities to refinance all outstanding advances under the Loan Agreement. The commercial bank facilities will be guaranteed by the Secretary of State.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which senior executive positions in Railtrack are(a) vacant and (b)undergoing change of personnel. [19960]
§ Mr. SpellarRailtrack plc is a private company in railway administration. This is a matter for the Administrator.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what liabilities Railtrack plc has incurred for poor performance since 5 October. [19958]
§ Mr. SpellarThis is a commercial matter between Railtrack and train operating companies.
§ Peter BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average earnings were of Railtrack directors in(a) salary, (b) bonuses and (c) additional payments in each year between 1996–97 and 2000–01. [19495]
§ Mr. Jamieson[holding answer 3 December 2001]: The table provide information on the average remuneration of Railtrack directors based on information available in Railtrack's annual reports and accounts, 1996–97 to 2000–01. The averages are calculated and presented separately for executive and non-executive directors.
(i) Average payments to the chairman and executive directors (termed executive directors for ease of reference) are provided in table 1.
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Table 1: Payments to executive directors £000 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Average1 Salaries 1,375 158 180 204 224 Other emoluments including benefits in kind 16 11 10 11 26 Other performance related bonus payments 48 49 28 23 15 Pension scheme contributions 19 34 12 11 9 1 This average divides payments to executive directors by the number of executive directors serving that year. The number of executive directors used to calculate the average has been pro-rated to take account of directors who did not serve a full year (ii) In addition to the payments detailed, the compensation paid in each financial year to executive directors who resigned prior to or during the financial year is provided in table 2. Because it is only directors who lose office who receive payments, the table presents total payments and the number of individuals receiving compensation rather than providing an average based on the total number of directors in service in the year.
Table 2: Compensation in respect of loss of office Compensation in respect of loss of office (£000) Number of directors compensated 1996–97 292 1 1997–98 335 3 1998–99 309 2 1999–2000 153 1 2000–01 594 2 (iii) Average fees paid to non-executive directors are provided in table 3:
Table 3: Fees paid to non-executive directors Average (£000)1 Fee2 1996–97 15 1997–98 19 1998–99 21 1999–2000 31 2000–01 32 1. This average divides payments to non-executive directors by the number of non-executive directors serving that year. The number of non-executive directors used to calculate the average has been pro-rated to take account of directors who did not serve a full year. 2 More detailed figures are not provided in Railtrack's annual reports and accounts.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether Mr. John Robinson asked him for a letter of comfort for Railtrack at the meeting on 25 July. [20420]
§ Mr. JamiesonI refer the hon. Member to the supplementary note of the meeting of 25 July, which was provided to the Transport Sub-Committee of the Select Committee on Transport. Local Government and Regional Affairs and which has been placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if it is his policy that the company limited by guarantee he is proposing for Railtrack will seek to include property management as part of its core business. [21046]
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§ Mr. JamiesonA team is being assembled to take forward to develop the CLG bid. It will put forward proposals to the Administrator in due course.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the expenditure(a) planned and (b) allocated by Railtrack plc on (i) office costs, (ii) expense accounts, (iii) entertainment budgets, (iv) workforce training, (v) staff promotion costs, (vi) information technology costs and (vii) other administration costs, for each month from January 2000 to November 2001. [21035]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department does not hold this information. These are matters for Railtrack.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what amounts have been repaid to date under section 7.2 of the commercial loan agreement with the Railtrack administrator. [21490]
§ Mr. JamiesonA total of £20,107,776 has been repaid.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what guarantees he has made to the Railtrack administrator under section 9.1 of the commercial loan agreement. [21482]
§ Mr. JamiesonNo guarantees have been given to date.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress has been made by the Railtrack administrator in refinancing the facilities set out in the commercial loan agreement, as outlined in section 7.1.3. [21489]
§ Mr. JamiesonThis is a matter for the administrator.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the Railtrack administrator has sought consents under section 8.1.2 of the commercial loan agreement. [21488]
§ Mr. JamiesonYes.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much of the trust facility outlined in section 2.1 of the commercial loan facility with the Railtrack administrator has been drawn down. [21494]
§ Mr. JamiesonA total of £1,208,287,305.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much of the working capital facility referred to in section 2.2 of the commercial loan ageement with the Railtrack administrator has been drawn down. [21493]
§ Mr. JamiesonNone.
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§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the Government have fulfilled its obligations under section 5.6 of the commercial loan agreement with the Railtrack administrator. [21492]
§ Mr. JamiesonYes.