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1221W
Written Answers
6 JUNE 2013
Written Answers
1222W
Written Answers to
Questions
Thursday 6 June 2013
TRANSPORT
Accident and Emergency Departments: High Speed 2
Railway Line
Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport
what assessment he has made of the effect and change
in response times that HS2 construction traffic will have
on the accident and emergency ambulance routes along
the length of the London to Birmingham route of HS2;
and if he will make a statement. [158186]
Mr Simon Burns: As part of the Transport Assessment
being prepared for the Hybrid Bill by HS2 Ltd, the
effects on traffic flow during the construction of HS2
Phase One are being assessed. These effects and proposed
mitigation will be reported as part of the Environmental
Statement to be submitted with the Hybrid Bill.
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for
Transport what the Government’s plans are for the
implementation of any control measures on carbon
emissions proposed by the International Civil Aviation
Organization. [158165]
Mr Simon Burns: At this stage the Government does
not have any specific plans on the implementation of
control measures for emissions agreed in the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Government
intends to work through ICAO to secure an ambitious
global agreement to address international aviation emissions
at this year’s General Assembly (24 September-4 October).
It would be premature to develop plans for
implementation on the CO 2 standard (due to be adopted
at the 2016 General Assembly) and on market based
measures (due to be discussed at this year’s Assembly)
given the uncertainty on a number of design elements.
The Government is however, actively involved in the
development of these measures and is taking account of
the feasibility and practicality of implementation.
Bus Services: Redditch
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for
Transport what assessment he has made of the takeover
of bus services by the Diamond Bus Company in Redditch;
and what assessment he has made of the potential effect
on bus service quality of restrictions placed by the
Office of Fair Trading on that company. [157157]
Norman Baker: This question refers to the completed
acquisition by The Diamond Bus Company Limited
(’Diamond’) of the bus business of FirstGroup plc
(’FirstGroup’) in Redditch and Kidderminster, which
the Office of Fair Trading (’OFT) is reviewing using its
merger powers under the Enterprise Act 2002.
The purpose of an OFT merger investigation such as
this is to consider whether the merger might, for example,
cause price rises or reduce quality for consumers, as a
result of a reduction in competition in the affected areas.
The OFT is an independent regulator, and the Department
for Transport has therefore made no assessment of the
OFT’s actions regarding this case.
It is my understanding that there are ’Initial
Undertakings’ in place, which apply during the lifetime
of the OFT investigation and are imposed according to
usual OFT practice in cases where mergers have already
taken place, for the purposes of ensuring that remedies
can be implemented at the end of the investigation,
should they be necessary to address any competition
concerns.
Beyond that, there are no restrictions imposed on the
quality of bus services in Redditch, and the OFT’s
investigation is not preventing any investment in local
bus services or other improvements.
Moreover, the OFT has granted derogations (altering
the Initial Undertakings) to allow certain changes to
the Diamond and ex-FirstGroup services at the request
of Diamond. The derogations, details of which are
available on the OFT website, have provided the company
with the flexibility it requires to ensure quality of service.
In particular, the OFT has allowed Diamond to allocate
dedicated buses to routes 57 and 58 (two of the most
utilised bus services in Redditch) so as to ensure that the
required service timetables and frequencies on such
routes can be met.
East Coast Railway Line
Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of
State for Transport what plans he has to consult
passengers and other key stakeholders on the tendering
of the East Coast mainline rail franchise. [158115]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department for Transport
(DFT) is engaging with key stakeholders in developing
the specification for the InterCity East Coast franchise.
A public consultation in respect of the East Coast
refranchise was carried out by DFT from June-September
2012. A response to the 2012 consultation will be published
later this summer which will set out any refinements of
policy from the 2012 consultation. This may include
any Brown recommendations which are to be adopted
in the franchise.
Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of
State for Transport whether any new franchisee of the
East Coast mainline will be required to make a contribution
to the costs of the planned infrastructure upgrade to
that line scheduled to take place between 2014 and
2019. [158118]
Mr Simon Burns: The costs of the planned infrastructure
upgrade work on the East Coast mainline between 2014
and 2019 will be borne by Network Rail as part of the
regulatory Control Period 5 settlement.
Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of
State for Transport whether any new franchisee of the
East Coast mainline will be required to make a contribution
to the costs of the rolling stock upgrade scheduled to be
delivered by May 2019. [158119]