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1684020

registered interest
date	22/01/2024
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Avanti West Coast on the reported content of an internal presentation referencing (a) the receipt of funds from the public purse and (b) conditions for the receipt of performance-related payments; and whether his Department has paid fees to Avanti to deliver services for which third-party suppliers and inspections have already been provided to deliver.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	10774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>Officials have discussed this issue with senior managers at First Rail Holdings (Avanti West Coast Owning Group) and the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast. Further discussions will be taking place with Ministers.</p><p>The Department reimburses pre-agreed budgeted costs incurred by operators on a good and efficient basis.</p><p>Additionally, operators earn two types of fees. A fixed management fee and a performance-based fee. Payment of the performance-based fee is dependent on operators’ performance against contractual criteria and target measures.</p><p>One element of that performance component is the SQR Regime, which was fully implemented for Avanti in April 2023. This regime is entirely separate from the operational performance regime which incentivise the operator to manage on-time running and cancellation levels. To date no fees have been paid to Avanti under the SQR regime. The first period to be assessed to determine the Performance Fee are the scores for April to October 2023. The evaluation process for this period is underway.</p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman question first answered 25/01/2024 12:24:09 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1653685

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Avanti West Coast on possible service reductions in (a) August and (b) September; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Blackburn
tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
uin	194425
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2023 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast weekday timetables for August and September 2023 are publicly available on the Avanti website. Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group, including on all significant timetabling and performance decisions. We are holding them to account for matters within their control and will continue to use all contractual levers to drive the best outcomes for passengers.</p><p> </p><p>As previously advised to line-of-route MPs, to help maintain the progress it has made so far, Avanti has been taking steps to build in greater resilience in key periods. Given the continued disruption arising from a greatly increased annual leave burden, Avanti is temporarily suspending a limited number of targeted services between 24 July and 9 September 2023. These temporary reductions, spread across its routes and targeted at times of least impact, will help prevent short notice cancellations for passengers, giving them confidence that what they see in the timetable will run reliably. It’s important to note that, throughout this period, Avanti will continue running more services than last year.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman grouped question UIN 194426 question first answered 20/07/2023 13:56:45 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1653686

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Avanti West Coast on possible alterations to planned services in (a) August and (b) September 2023.
tabling member constituency	Blackburn
tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
uin	194426
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2023 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast weekday timetables for August and September 2023 are publicly available on the Avanti website. Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group, including on all significant timetabling and performance decisions. We are holding them to account for matters within their control and will continue to use all contractual levers to drive the best outcomes for passengers.</p><p> </p><p>As previously advised to line-of-route MPs, to help maintain the progress it has made so far, Avanti has been taking steps to build in greater resilience in key periods. Given the continued disruption arising from a greatly increased annual leave burden, Avanti is temporarily suspending a limited number of targeted services between 24 July and 9 September 2023. These temporary reductions, spread across its routes and targeted at times of least impact, will help prevent short notice cancellations for passengers, giving them confidence that what they see in the timetable will run reliably. It’s important to note that, throughout this period, Avanti will continue running more services than last year.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman grouped question UIN 194425 question first answered 20/07/2023 13:56:45 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1653687

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many daily services Avanti West Coast runs under its current timetable.
tabling member constituency	Blackburn
tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
uin	194427
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2023 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast run a seven train per hour timetable which equates to 264 weekday services, 244 on Saturdays, and 202 on Sundays. However, from 24 July to 8 September, Avanti has removed 20 trains a day from its weekday timetable, to enable it to run a more reliable service for its customers, minimising unplanned, short-term cancellations. This is a temporary measure and from 9 September it will return to current levels. The base position is subject to change as Avanti agrees plans to mitigate the impact of strikes and Network Rail engineering works, particularly on weekends.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman grouped question UIN 194428 question first answered 20/07/2023 14:01:15 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1653688

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on average, how many daily services does he expect Avanti West Coast to run in (a) August and (b) September.
tabling member constituency	Blackburn
tabling member printed	Kate Hollern
uin	194428
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2023 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast run a seven train per hour timetable which equates to 264 weekday services, 244 on Saturdays, and 202 on Sundays. However, from 24 July to 8 September, Avanti has removed 20 trains a day from its weekday timetable, to enable it to run a more reliable service for its customers, minimising unplanned, short-term cancellations. This is a temporary measure and from 9 September it will return to current levels. The base position is subject to change as Avanti agrees plans to mitigate the impact of strikes and Network Rail engineering works, particularly on weekends.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman grouped question UIN 194427 question first answered 20/07/2023 14:01:15 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	4363 label Biography information for Kate Hollern

1605363

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is their justification for the further extension to the contract for Avanti West Coast, given its service record over the last six months.
tabling member printed	Lord Goddard of Stockport
uin	HL6623
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2023 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast (AWC) introduced a new timetable in December which amounted to an approximate 40 per cent increase in services. The first month did not see an improvement for passengers given the period of prolonged industrial action. Since then, AWC has demonstrated improvement in performance justifying an extension to October 2023, with cancellation rates falling to an average of 4.2 per cent in early March. AWC needs to do more to win back passengers with a reliable and dependable service.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 29/03/2023 12:36:27 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	4334 label Biography information for Lord Goddard of Stockport

1544035

registered interest
date	21/11/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the service provided by Avanti.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	92142
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2022 answer text <p>Avanti West Coast has started to increase its service levels, targeting additional trains every day where they are most needed and train crew resources allow, but the current service remains insufficient. The issues experienced on Avanti West Coast are exactly why we need to modernise the railways, to ensure passengers get a reliable timetable no matter when they travel and are not relying on drivers working overtime in order to run a full service.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman question first answered 25/11/2022 13:36:26 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1535928

registered interest
date	25/10/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train drivers have been (a) recruited and (b) left the West Coast Partnership in each year since the start of the West Coast Partnership Emergency Recovery Measures agreement.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
uin	71147
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2022 answer text <p>The recruitment and training of drivers was significantly restricted during the pandemic. Figures for relevant years are as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Drivers recruited</p></td><td><p>Drivers left</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2019 – Dec 2020</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2020 – Dec 2021</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2021 to Dec 2022 (incl. forecasted)</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>46</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 28/10/2022 10:09:17 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

1536099

registered interest
date	25/10/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effect of reductions in Avanti West Coast services on the economies of Lancaster and Fleetwood.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	71120
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2022 answer text <p>The Department recognises the importance of a high performing railway in contributing to growth and local economies. While Avanti West Coast has temporarily reduced services on some routes due to a shortage of drivers, the service pattern for Lancaster is unchanged. Ahead of December’s significant increase to the timetable on other routes, Avanti West Coast continues to train more drivers with nearly 100 entering service this year. This will improve resilience for services between Lancaster and London.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Forest of Dean answering member printed Mr Mark Harper question first answered 28/10/2022 10:06:36 answering member 1520 label Biography information for Mr Mark Harper
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1535335

registered interest
date	24/10/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Avanti West Coast
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department last met with Avanti to discuss scheduling and booking problems on the West Coast mainline.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Paula Barker
uin	69838
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2022 answer text <p>On a daily basis officials meet with Avanti to understand operational challenges, alongside ad hoc meetings on specific issues.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this DFT officials meet Avanti West Coast senior management on a weekly basis to discuss and review their recovery plan and management of key risks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bexhill and Battle answering member printed Huw Merriman question first answered 31/10/2022 14:46:16 answering member 4442 label Biography information for Huw Merriman
tabling member	4828 label Biography information for Paula Barker