HC Deb 21 May 2004 vol 421 cc1228-30W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2004,Official Report, column 651W, how many of the Department of Transport's PFI projects listed on the Treasury website met the criteria for special purpose vehicles set out in the Strategic Rail Authority's strategic plan. [171521]

Mr. McNulty

None of the Department for Transport projects listed on the Treasury website falls within the remit of the Strategic Rail Authority. The Highways Agency is responsible for the strategic roads, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency for the MOT privatisation, Transport for London for London Underground and the Docklands Light Rail projects and the relevant local authority for the other light rail, local roads and street lighting PFI projects.

The selection criteria used to assess special purpose vehicles tendering for transport projects varies to take account of the nature of the work, the project size and duration.

The legal, economic, financial and technical information required is set out in the contract advert in the Official Journal of the European Union. The information requested complies with Office of Government Commerce advice, departmental procedures and Treasury guidance on Private Finance Initiative practice.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Network Rail Volume Incentive; and if he will make a statement. [174075]

Mr. Darling

The 'Volume Incentive' was first introduced by the Rail Regulator in his Access Charges Review 2000. The SRA set out its views on the continuing effectiveness of a Volume Incentive for Network Rail as part of its response to the Initial Consultation Paper of the Access Charge Review 2003. The SRA's view was that for a number of reasons, the Volume Incentive would no longer be cost effective or appropriate given the changes to the industry since it was first introduced. The Rail Regulator considered this view and the supporting reasons, along with the views of other consultees, in the course of the Access Charge Review 2003. His view was that the Volume Incentive would continue to be an effective way of encouraging Network Rail to make efficient use of a constrained network so that additional traffic could be accommodated. He therefore retained the Volume Incentive, with a number of modifications (including only rewarding Network Rail for growth above a certain threshold level) in the Final Conclusions to the Access Charge Review published in December 2003. This decision is entirely for the Rail Regulator, taking into account his statutory duties as set out in the Railways Act. 1993.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the(a) Strategic Rail Authority's submission to the rail regulator in December 2002 that the Network Rail Volume Incentive be removed and (b) the Rail Regulators' response. [1174076]

Mr. Darling

The documents referred to are available from the Office of the Rail Regulator's website at the following address:

  1. (a) http://www. rail-reg. gov.uk/upload/pdf/ir2-sra. pdf
  2. (b) http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/162.pdf

The Final Conclusions from the Access Charge Review 2003 and other related documents are also available from this website.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004,Official Report, column 410W, on railways, what operational performance trajectory was set for the train operating companies between December 2003 and November 2004; and what the current performance is against that target. [174239]

Mr. Darling

The performance trajectory, developed by the National Task Force on behalf of the rail industry, consists of Network Rail's performance forecasts and Train Operating Companies (TOC) performance plans. The trajectory is the industry's own internal performance monitoring process and will be reviewed in October 2004.

TOC performance statistics are published quarterly by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in "National Rail Trends", the most recent edition of which was published in March 2004. Copies of "National Rail Trends" are placed in the House of Commons Library and published on the SRA's web site.

Lawrie Quinn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what international models of railway safety he has considered in the context of the Rail Review. [174815]

Mr. McNulty

The rail review is considering several international models of railway safety in the course of its work.

Mr. Clapham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria his Department is using to evaluate options for reorganising the structure of the railways as part of the Rail Review. [173798]

Mr. McNulty

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport said in his statement to the House on 19 January2004, the principles for the review are that railways must operate in the public interest, maintain commitment to public and private partnership and maintain commitment to independent economic regulation.

Mr. Clapham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he will ensure that rail safety continues to improve following changes arising from the Rail Review. [173799]

Mr. McNulty

The European Railway Safety Directive requires that member states ensure that railway safety is generally maintained and, where reasonably practicable, continuously improved.

Mr. Clapham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that the recommendations from Lord Cullen's public inquiry following the Ladbroke Grove rail accident are fully delivered following changes arising from the Rail Review. [173800]

Mr. McNulty

Lord Cullen recommended that the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) should review compliance with his public inquiry recommendations and publish the outcome of such reviews. The safety regulator will be expected to continue to review compliance following the rail review.