Ministerial responsibilities - the right Hammond finally gets rail!

Is there a worse website in the world than .gov.uk?

No matter. 

Thank God for twitter!

With a bowler tip to @wmtucker, who pointed Eye to the pages giving the new ministerial transport team's responsibilities:

Baroness Kramer

Baroness Kramer was appointed Minister of State for Transport in October 2013.

The minister is responsible for:

• HS2 – Phase Two
• rail – funding and futures (including RIS, SOFA, ORR, stations policy)
• cities and urban renewal (including growth deals and Heseltine Review)
• localism and devolution
• local connectivity (including smart ticketing, buses, taxis, light rail and trams)
• accessibility and equalities
• future transport (including ULEV)
• natural environnent (including biofuels)
• SMEs
• international

Stephen Hammond MP

Stephen Hammond was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport on 4 September 2012.

The minister is responsible for:

• rail – (including operational issues, major projects, fares and ticketing, Rail Delivery Group reform, franchising)
• London (including Crossrail)
• maritime
• Better Regulation
• corporate

Robert Goodwill MP

Robert Goodwill was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport in October 2013

The minister is responsible for:

• aviation
• strategic roads and Highways Agency
• motoring agencies
• road safety and standards
• freight and logistics – including lorry road user charging
• local roads
• cycling
• HS2 Phase One
• Europe

Eye congratulates Stephen Hammond, the minister for rail. It's about time!

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

I think there may be a stiff contender for the worst website in the world.

The website of Eye favourite, the Soi Disant Veteran Observer, continues to feature a twice failed candidate for London's Mayor and a still very much dead Madam Chair of the Transport Select Committee!

Perhaps the 'Soi Disant' played a role in designing the 'award winning' gov.uk portal?

DfT PPSs announced

The following have been announced as Parliamentary Private Secretaries to DfT ministers... 

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin: Gavin Williamson MP (South Staffordshire) 

Minister of State - Simon Burns: Julian Sturdy MP (York Outer) 

Still awaiting ministerial responsibilities...

Mostly missing minister replaced by Burns

The new Minister of State for Transport is Simon Burns.

Biog below from his website:

Simon was born in September 1952. He was educated at Christ the King School, Accra, Ghana; Stamford School, Stamford, Lincolnshire; and Worcester College, Oxford, where he obtained a BA Honours Degree in Modern History. He also has an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from Anglia University.

Simon's Experience
Simon was Member of Parliament for Chelmsford from June 1987 – April 1997, for West Chelmsford from May 1997 to April 2010, and elected Member of Parliament for Chelmsford in May 2010.

From 1975 to 1980 he was Political Adviser to the Rt. Hon. Sally Oppenheim MP. From 1980-83 he was a journalist and company director of What To Buy for Business magazine, and from 1983-87 was on the Policy Executive of the Institute of Directors.

He has been active in politics since 1970 when he was a founder member of the Rutland and Stamford Young Conservatives, and founder and Chairman of the Stamford School CPC.

In 1972 he worked for Senator George McGovern in his presidential election bid against Richard Nixon. In December 2007/January 2008 he spent 10 days working on Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign in the New Hampshire Primary. From 1973-75 he was a committee member, Political Action Officer and Secretary of Oxford University Conservative Association, and a member of the Oxford Union.

From 1977-81 he was Treasurer, Southfields Ward, and a member of the Treasurer's and Executive Council, Putney Conservative Association. In 1983 he was Conservative candidate in Alyn and Deeside (North Wales) when he reduced Labour's majority from 6,800 to 1,368. In 1986 he was Chairman, Avonmore Ward, Fulham Conservative Association.

Simon has been Parliamentary Private Secretary to Timothy Eggar MP, and the Rt. Hon. Gillian Shephard MP, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food until July 1994. He has also been Assistant Government Whip (1994-1995), Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury (1995-1996), & Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health (1996-7).

Simon Burns MP celebrating the resurfacing of Lady Lane following his successful lobby of Essex County Council - September 2009

In June 1997 he was appointed opposition Front Bench Spokesman for Social Security, a position he held until August 1998 when he was appointed Front Bench Spokesman for Environment, Housing and Planning, until June 1999. He was elected a member of the executive at the 1922 Committee in July 1999 and Treasurer of the 1922 Committee in November 1999. He was a member of the House of Commons Health Select Committee from 1999 – 2005.

In September 2001 Simon was appointed Shadow Health Minister and was reappointed to this position in May 2005. From December 2005 to May 2010, he was the Senior Whip in the Opposition Whip's Office and since May 2010, he has been Minister of State at the Department of Health. In January 2011, he was appointed a Member of the Privy Council.

Aside from his Shadow Ministerial duties, one of Simon's proudest achievements in Parliament since 1997 was successfully piloting through Parliament his Private Member's Bill – the Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999 – to tighten up the law on football hooligans, and pressuring the Government to strengthen legislation further in 2000 by giving the courts the power to withdraw hooligans' passports and prevent them from causing trouble abroad.

Simon is interested in American Politics, collecting political books and swimming.

Following, ahem, a slight problem on the roads, Eye suggests he devotes his considerable skills to safely focusing on the needs of rail users.

Ministerial roles and responsibilities

This from the DfT website...

Secretary of State, Philip Hammond MP

• Spending Review
• Transport Security
• High Speed Rail

Minister of State for Transport - Theresa Villiers MP

• Rail
• London – including Crossrail
• Olympics
• Europe Aviation – including Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Norman Baker MP

• Regional and Local Transport
• Buses and Taxis – including concessionary fares
• Walking and Cycling
• Accessibility and Equalities
• Alternatives to travel

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Mike Penning MP

• Strategic Roads and Highways Agency
• Motoring Agencies
• Road Safety and Standards
• Freight and Logistics
• Maritime and Dangerous Goods - including Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Good to see that the 'Spending Review' comes first and foremost...

UPDATE: This from the Shunter...

Presumably once the Secretary of State has completed his Spending Review the other ministers can return to the back benches?

Job done - last one out please turn off the Marsham Street lights.

UPDATE: This from Our Man at 222 Marylebone Road...

It looks as though the portfolios have got crossed within DfT.

Should not Norman Baker be in charge of "Things that are really important and cost a lot of money and can screw up the country if they go wrong"

And should not Therasa Villiers have under her wing "Politically correct things that we have to care about or can let the PTEs get on with?

And ITSO smart cards seem to have fallen into a black hole.

Poetry Corrner - Norman

This just in from Clarence Spad Life President, Young Railway Poets Society:

LINES WRITTEN AT READING STATION ON WATCHING A BEDWYN WORKING BEING RELEASED ONTO THE BERKS AND HANTS JUST BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF A LATE RUNNING TRAIN TO TAUNTON: THEREBY ENSURING THE LATTER TRAIN WILL CONSEQUENTLY RUN TEN MINUTES LATE AND THE BEDWYN SERVICE WILL HAVE TO WAIT AT NEWBURY UNTIL THE FAST TRAIN HAS PASSED

My premonitions were right.
Norman has got the job.
Jim who has worked
For forty years on Platform 4
Told me that in 1962
Sue Thompson
An American singer
Had a hit song called Norman
I have listened to it on Youtube
It is very catchy
I am sure
Once Phil hears it
He will soon be humming it to his new
Parliamentary Under Secretary



'Clarence is the Rilke of Reading Station,' Wordsworth

One for the HRA

This for Eye's friends in the Heritage Railway world...

TOURISM MINISTER: John Penrose

Mr Penrose is about to become the kettle fraternity's New Best Friend.

Villiers back in junior role

***Theresa Villiers back at Department for Transport but demoted***

With a bowler tip to @MichaelSavage, via Twitter

UPDATE: Iain Dale giving Villiers as Minister of State (Sadiq Khan in old money)

Penning to Transport?

***Iain Dale tweets Mike Penning to Transport***

Eye neither!

More to follow...

UPDATE: This biog from Conservative.com...

Mike was born in North London in 1957 and was educated in Essex at Appleton and King Edmund Comprehensive Schools. He is married to Angela and has two daughters, Adele and Abby.

He joined the Army as a boy soldier and served with the Grenadier Guards in Northern Ireland, Kenya and Germany; he also undertook ceremonial duties in London including the Trooping of the Colour. On leaving the Army Mike served as a full time fireman in Essex for many years before going into the family business and later, after several career changes into political journalism.

Mike is a hard-hitting campaigner. He is always happiest when he can take up issues for those residents of Hemel Hempstead Constituency that come to him for help. He is fiercely proud of his working class roots and feels that his background allows him to have an understanding and empathy with the problems that affect peoples everyday lives.

Mike has many interests outside of politics. Along with being a dedicated family man, he is passionate about sport, especially Rugby Union and Football.

Mike Penning's Experience
Mike came into politics late in his career. He first brought his skills to the political arena in 1997, when he ran Sir Teddy Taylor's successful General Election campaign in Southend. Since 1997 he has been an advisor to the Shadow Cabinet under William Hague and, until recently, was Iain Duncan Smith's Deputy Head of Media. In 2001 Mike stood as a candidate in the safe Labour seat of Thurrock.

In May 2005, Mike was elected as Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead when he ousted the sitting Labour MP.

Mike is a strong believer in the traditions and values of our country and is a passionate defender of our constitution and that includes keeping our own currency. The first job of any politician is to serve his country and Mike has a proven track record here for most of his working life.

He feels that for the public to engage with politicians, the politician must first gain their respect. This he does by showing honesty and integrity. His philosophy is "if you say you are going to do something you should follow it through."

Since winning the election in 2005, Mike has taken up many campaigns that affect the people of Hemel Hempstead, most notably the campaign to Save Hemel Hospital, the fight for compensation for Dexion pensioners who lost their pensions and the campaign for a public inquiry into the Buncefield disaster.

In July 2007, Mike was appointed as a Shadow Minister for Health.

One piece of good news.

He likes animals - and claimed £2.99 for a dog bowl on his expenses.

UPDATE: According to Iain Dale's blog...

Penning will be Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (equivalent to Paul Clark in old money).

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

'He feels that for the public to engage with politicians, the politician must first gain their respect. This he does by showing honesty and integrity'.

What was it Ralph Waldo Emerson: said?

"The more he mentioned his honour, the faster we counted our spoons."

Still, he has to be better than Paul Clark

Sadiq Khan MP gets transport

The Eye congratulates Sadiq Khan on his appointment as Minister of State for Transport.

A bowler tip to Behind the Water Tower for this link to the Wandsworth Guardian which profiles the MP for Tooting.

With Lord Adonis sitting in the unelected Upper House it has been decided that Mr Khan will also sit in cabinet and join the Privy Council.

The Rt Hon Sadiq Khan has some experience of transport as his father Amanullah, a trained engineer who came to Britain in the 1960's, worked on the buses as a driver.

A former chairman of Liberty he has first hand experience of the democratic deficit, having been bugged talking to a gaoled constituent by counter-terrorism officers.

Image courtesy of Tubelines

He has also taken a keen interest in Tube Lines' work in his constituency.

Sadiq Khan's elevation to the Privy Council and cabinet was announced via the MP's twitter feed on Saturday.

The Rt Hon Sadiq Khan's blog can be found here, although he last posted on Wednesday.

Interesting times!

UPDATE: This just in from Nicholas Hill over at XBriefing...

Earlier this year Mr Khan sought to blame recent increases in rail and underground passenger fares on ‘the Tories’.

In his March constituency newsletter Totally Tooting he stated:

"In January…an annual train or tube season ticket to Central London went up by £180... In the current economic climate, politicians should be helping people to save money. Yet the Tories are doing the opposite. They don’t seem to care."

Thanks for this Nicholas. As Khan obviously 'does care' presumably we can look to a reversal of current government policy which is designed to see the passenger pick up a greater share of the railway tab?

No, thought not!

Un-Micromanagement

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
As is well rehearsed by rail ministers DafT does not get involved in the detail of running franchises.

Here's a non-example from the South Central Franchise Invitation to Tender.

"Bidders’ attention is drawn to the problem of delays between train arrival and door opening at Victoria associated with problems with the GPS signal at that station. This often means that whilst a train is at a stand passengers have to wait 20-30 seconds before the doors are opened.

"Proposals are sought as to how this issue can be remedied with a view to a solution early within the life of the franchise."

Not a sparrow falls

Loved by Aphrodite

What is the industry to make of the appointment of Lord Adonis as the Minister of State for Transport.

As the DafT web wonks have still to include his details on their site it falls to The Fact Compiler to supply the necessary background details.

According to those who have worked with him he is "obsessive about detail" to the extent that he is a "micromanager".

So far so bad.

However, he is also "his own man" and "master of his brief" - so will not be hoodwinked by Officials.

More good news.

Contrary to today's Daily Telegraph story that he has not "shown any interest in transport", Railway Eye can reveal that he is in fact "passionate about railways".

As may be witnessed by his review of Wolmar's recent book 'Fire and Steam' in Prospect Magazine.

He is also a great fan of 07:30 meetings - looks like the DafT numpties will have to up their game.

UPDATE: At the end of his review of Fire and Steam Lord Adonis adds:

"The big debate for the future is if and when High Speed Two and Three are to follow".

Well my Lord. Perhaps you can now tell us?