Iain Stewart elected TSC Chair

Iain Stewart, the Conservative MP for Milton Keynes South, has been elected Chair of the Transport Select Committee.

Iain was first elected MP in 2010 and he has served several times as a member of the TSC: from 2010-2013; 2015-2017; 2017-2018; in 2019 and in 2020.

Previous government roles have included Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office (2020-22) and on several occasions as a whip.

The following Conservative MPs also stood in the TSC election:

• Jack Brereton (Stoke South)
• Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock)
• Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble)
• Chris Loder (West Dorset)
• Karl McCartney (Lincoln)

Jack Brereton MP, Chris Loder MP and Karl McCartney MP are existing members of the TSC.

Commenting on his win, Iain said:

“I am delighted to have been entrusted by the House to Chair this vital Committee and thank all who supported me.

"I have a real passion for, and experience in, Transport issues and I am very much looking forward to working with colleagues on the Committee to complete the existing programme of work and establish fresh inquiries.

“I want the Committee both to scrutinise and hold to account Government, agencies and operators, but also to do important horizon-scanning proactive work into future opportunities and challenges.”

With today's 'Fiscal Event' and continued uncertainty over the future of GBR there will be much for the new chair and his committee to scrutinise.

TSC to look at Mobility as a Service

This from the Transport Select Committee…

Committee to explore transformative potential of ‘Mobility as a Service’

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a broad term for a range of digital transport service platforms, from quite niche online car and bike-sharing schemes to hugely popular, high profile taxi and private hire smartphone apps.

MaaS apps can provide value for money, convenient, on demand services and are transforming how people, particularly younger people in cities, use urban transport. But, while door-to-door journeys in cities tend to utilise several transport modes— walk/cycle/minicab; train; bus; walk/cycle, for example—the most popular smartphone apps to date have tended to be single mode, typically taxis and minicabs.

Proponents of an emerging model of MaaS, in which multiple modes of transport are brought together under a single app, believe it has the potential to make getting around via public and shared transport so convenient it will negate the need for people in and around cities to own their own car, with potentially massive benefits in relation to urban congestion, air pollution and health.

The Transport Committee is launching a new inquiry into the transformative potential of this type of integrated, multi-mode MaaS app, and overcoming barriers to implementation in UK cities and regions.

Lilian Greenwood, Chair of the Transport Select Committee, said:

“Integrating urban transport modes into a single, integrated MaaS app represents a really exciting opportunity to transform how we get around in our cities.

“An integrated MaaS app can create a single, seamless journey, cutting out the hassle of separate ticketing for different legs of a journey. The app can plan and book your whole journey from door-to-door in the most efficient way possible, using real-time service data across all the transport modes in the city. This could substantially reduce reliance on the private car; ease congestion; increase productivity; and lead to more pleasant, healthier cities with better air quality.

“Integrated MaaS is a much talked about concept, but it is not generally well understood. We want to increase public understanding; find out if the bold claims are justified; and, if they are, recommend ways the Department for Transport and others can support and facilitate its implementation in the UK."

Submissions can be made here.

Timely for the Rail Supply Group, as it seeks a Sector Deal.

TSC Inquiry into Rail Infrastructure

This from the Transport Select Committee...

The process for deciding the funding and outputs of Network Rail for the control period 2019-2024 is underway. Against this background, the Committee wishes to understand whether the current system of planning and delivering investment in rail infrastructure is adequate. The Committee is particularly interested in submissions addressing:

The impact of postponing renewals from the current control period into the next and the implications of the Secretary of State’s decision to remove enhancements from the control period process
The adequacy of the control period process in enabling the delivery of long term rail infrastructure objectives

Whether Network Rail’s long term planning process is effective in providing the industry with strategic direction beyond the five year control period.

As usual, RIA was quick off the mark, punting this out at close of play on Friday...

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA) said: “The Railway Industry Association has been urging politicians since the summer that there is a £500m shortfall in the current Control Period of railway funding, CP5. This shortfall needs to be addressed to avoid cancellations and delays on the railway system up to March 2019, when CP5 ends. However, we have also been calling for a look at the wider long-term issues around funding the railways, and so we strongly welcome the news that the Transport Select Committee has committed to investigate this.

“The current Control Period system creates boom and bust cycles in the industry, meaning rail suppliers need to increase their capacity at the start of the funding period, but then see a sharp drop off in workload near the end, jeopardising jobs and the ability of small and medium sized enterprises to survive. Ultimately this boom and bust increases the cost of renewing and maintaining the railway system by up to 30%. So we look forward to working with the Transport Select Committee to see how the funding system can be improved, to enable the best possible service to passengers and freight, and the best value to the taxpayer”.

Inquiry Terms of Reference here, and submission can be made via here.

Grayling to face Transport Committee on 16th October

This from the Transport Select Committee…

Planned electrification on railway lines scrapped

In the first public evidence session for the Committee, MPs will unpick the thinking behind policy changes by the Department for Transport, including the scrapping of planned electrification on railway lines in Wales, the Midlands and the North of England.

Chair of the Committee, Lilian Greenwood MP, commented:

"The new Transport Committee wants to get to grips with the rationale for Department for Transport decisions. We want to understand the Department's thinking – get into the nuts and bolts of why they have made recent changes to policy. 

"For example, the Government announced it would scrap electrification of several high profile routes including projects between Kettering and Sheffield, Cardiff Central and Swansea and Oxenholme and Windermere. Transpennine electrification is also likely to be 'discontinuous'. Members of the Committee will want to know how the Department reached that decision, and why.

"The Secretary of State should expect to be asked how the public is served by current transport policy, whether the passenger is a disabled person seeking wheelchair spaces on buses, a regular user of the railways, or seeking updates on investment in transport in their region. 

"The Transport Committee intends to scrutinise Department for Transport decisions which impact lives across the UK, every day."

Eye notes that Lilian Greenwood is the MP for the Midland Main Line, whoops, sorry… Nottingham South.

Transport Select Committee membership confirmed

This via Twitter...

The Transport Committee membership has been approved by the House . The Committee can now start its work. pic.twitter.com/fDs164Z8qO

— Transport Committee (@CommonsTrans) September 12, 2017

And so to business!

Transport Select Committee - New Tory members

A big Eye welcome to the following Tory MPs elected to the Transport Select Committee.

• Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay)
• Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle)
• Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes)
• Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)

They join chair Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) and the following Labour MPs.

• Graham Stringer MP (Blackley and Broughton)
• Luke Pollard MP (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
• Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge) 
• Laura Smith MP (Crewe and Nantwich) 

Eye understands there is one more place to fill, drawn from the smaller parties in parliament.

Election of Select Committee Chairs

Tonight the Speaker announced the results of the election for Select Committee Chairs.

Most importantly, for the Railway Industry, Lilian Greenwood was elected to succeed Louise Ellman as Chair of the Transport Select Committee.

Louise had served for two Parliaments and therefore, under parliamentary rules, was unable to stand again.

Eye welcomes Lilian Greenwood, the MP for Nottingham South, to this important committee that scrutinises government transport policy and decisions.

Industry will be pleased that Lilian specifically mentioned the Rail Supply Chain in her candidacy statement:

"Promises have been made that affect almost all our constituencies, and thousands of jobs (including in the supply chain) are in the balance. As Chair I would be a strong voice for rural and urban transport improvements, as well as a critic of bad schemes."

Old railway hands will remember Lilian as both Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and Shadow Rail Minister in the previous Parliament.

A number of other Select Committee chairs were also announced this evening, all of which are relevant to our industry:

Treasury Select Committee - Nicky Morgan (Loughborough);

BEIS Select Committee - Rachel Reeves (Leeds West);

Brexit Select Committee - Hilary Benn (Leeds Central);

International Trade Select Committee - Angus MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar)

Education Select Committee - Robert Halfon (Harlow)

Eye suggests engaging with all the above early and often - as they may not necessarily be aligned with the government policy of the day!

Transport Select Committee - Production Values

This from SNP MP Stewart McDonald, via twitter...

I can't wait for these Select Committee Chair elections to be over... pic.twitter.com/BS5YgW110f

— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) July 11, 2017

Winning!

EXCLUSIVE: Vote for the new Chair of the Transport Select Committee!

Time for an exciting new Eye poll!

Using your skill and judgement, select who you think should be the new Chair of the Transport Select Committee.

These are the Labour runner and riders, in no particular order (I see what you did there. Ed):

• Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South); 
• Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South); 
• Geraint Davies (Swansea West) 
• Clive Efford (Eltham); 
• Gavin Shuker (Luton South)

Note: The honour of Chairing the Transport Select Committee falls to the Red team, in line with Parliamentary arithmetic and as agreed today (alternative colours can be found on different select committees).

The poll is on the right hand menu bar...

Remember: Vote early, vote often!

TSC: Farewell Ellman - runners and riders

This from Roger Ford...

Sad news from Westminster.

Under Parliamentary rules Select Committee chairs are limited to two Parliamentary terms, which means that a replacement must be found for Eye's favourite inquisitor Louise Ellman (Didn't we do this back in April? Ed)

Her modest, almost diffident, demeamour in the chair of the Transport Select Committee concealed a shrewd grasp of the issues and an interrogation technique which, unusually, generated more light than heat.

An abiding pleasure is her, and her Committee's dissection of DfT Permant Secretary Philip Rutnam over the Great Western Electrification Programme.

At her hearings you knew someone was in trouble when she gave them that quizical look over her spectacles before asking a seemingly simple question, which was often almost impossible to answer honestly without political fall out.

Louise - the railway industry will miss you!

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Eye understands that the following MPs are likely to appear on the ballot to be Labour's new chair of the Transport Select Committee:

• Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South);
• Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South);
• Clive Efford (Eltham); and
• Geraint Davies (Swansea West)

Of course Eye is completely non-partisan about this election, so may the best man win! (Which in this case is Lilian Greenwood - a noted friend to the railway and its supply chain over many years. #JustSaying. Ed)

Ellman is first transport casualty of GE2017?

An early casualty of Theresa May's general election is likely to be the Chair of the Transport Select Committee.

Commons rules say that an MP can chair a select committee for eight years or two parliaments, whichever is the longer.

Louise Ellman, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, was first elected chair of the Transport Select Committee in 2008, following the untimely death of 'Madam Chairman' Gwyneth Dunwoody MP.

Louise has served on the Transport Select Committee for twenty years, since she was first elected to Parliament in 1997.

Although held by a Labour MP over many years, the chairmanship of the Transport Select Committee (and indeed the party affiliations of all the select committee chairs) will be dependent on the share of seats held by each party in the new Parliament.

Ellman has presided over an increasingly influential Transport Committee, and it is be hoped (voters willing) that her experience will not be entirely lost to TSC after June.

HS2 gets a roasting at TSC

A feisty session of the Transport Select Committee yesterday.

The committee quizzed Grayling and Higgins on the latest developments at HS2, and in particular about CH2M's decision to withdraw from a major contract.

Key take-away was from TSC Chair Louise Ellman, as captured by CityAM:

Chair of the committee Louise Ellman expressed her incredulity that the onus to flag any issues lay with the bidders as opposed to the government or HS2, “the procurer of this major, major contract with very large amounts of public money” behind it.

“Is that right? Who is responsible for identifying conflicts of interest, apart from whistleblowers or the media? Who within the company?” she asked

You can watch the fun and games, here.

Eye is sure that all this committee-room unpleasantness could have been avoided, if only Higgins had used the surreal ice-breaker deployed by his Commercial Director, Beth West, at a rolling stock event for the supply chain held on the 27th March.

Beth started off proceedings by telling astonished attendees that:

"Under your seats you will find a supply of sticky backed plastic, cardboard tubes from toilet rolls and yoghurt pots and in the next 15 minutes I'd like you all to build a prototype of the high speed train you would like to build for us."

Value for money engineering indeed.

Super Inquiry into Air Quality announced

This from the Transport Select Committee:

"MP’s from four select committees have combined forces to launch an unprecedented joint inquiry on air quality to scrutinise cross-government plans to tackle urban pollution hotspots.

"The Environmental Audit Committee, Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Health, and Transport Committees will hold four evidence sessions to consider mounting scientific evidence on the health and environmental impacts of outdoor air pollution.

"The Government has lost two UK court cases about its plans to tackle the key pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The High Court has ordered the Government to publish a draft new clean air plan to tackle NO2 by 24 April, with a final plan by 31 July."

This joint inquiry creates both opportunities and potential threats for the rail industry.

Passenger operators into London termini may wish to consider their idling policy for diesel trains?

Whilst station owners may want to look at whether their stations offer adequate ventilation...

On a more positive note, with the London Mayor particularly keen to introduce low-emission zones, Eye wonders whether railfreight operators can work with TfL and DfT to utilise passenger stations at night (and dormant Royal Mail facilities) to offer logistics services to the Capital?

Either way, hopefully RFG and RDG will see fit to submit evidence?

TSC - Suggestions for future inquiries

This from the Transport Select Committee... 

Transport Committee invites ideas for future inquiries 

The Transport Committee today invites the public to suggest subjects for inquiries to take place later in the year.

Topics should relate to the work of the Department for Transport or one of its related bodies, such as the Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency or Network Rail.

The Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP, has said:

“If you have an issue which you think we should look at we would like to hear from you. Please write to us, email, or submit your suggestion using our website or Twitter.

“Your suggestions will be important in shaping our future work programme. Once we have decided on which inquiries to hold we will publish all of the suggestions we received and what we decided in relation to each of them”.

“That said, I must also emphasise that the Committee does not take up individual cases and will not look at local transport issues or specific transport projects unless they raise issues of national significance.”

The Committee last invited the public to suggest inquiry ideas in March 2013. The suggestions received and the Committee’s decisions about its programme were published in June 2013. 

Future programme: 2013-14 

Further information 

Submissions should be 250 words or less and sent by e-mail to transcom@parliament.uk or via Twitter using @CommonsTrans 

Nothing to see here, move along.

Higgins before TSC on 14th October

This from the Transport Select Committee...

Oral evidence SESSION – Work of Network Rail
Sir David Higgins, chief executive of Network Rail, has been called to appear before the Transport Committee.
Chair of the Committee, Louise Ellman MP, has said:

“We have a wide range of issues to raise with Sir David Higgins including Network Rail’s problems in meeting its performance targets; the funding settlement for the next 5-year control period; and the work of the Rail Delivery Group, of which Sir David is deputy chair. We will also want to ask about how Sir David intends to tackle his important new role as chair of HS2 Ltd”.

Monday 14 October 2013

Witness:

4.15 pm
· Sir David Higgins, Chief Executive, Network Rail

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Committee Membership is as follows:

Mrs Louise Ellman (Labour/Co-operative, Liverpool Riverside) (Chair); Sarah Champion (Labour, Rotherham); Jim Dobbin (Labour/Co-operative, Heywood and Middleton); Karen Lumley (Conservative, Redditch); Jason McCartney (Conservative, Colne Valley); Karl McCartney (Conservative, Lincoln); Lucy Powell (Labour/Co-operative, Manchester Central); Adrian Sanders (Lib Dem, Torbay); Iain Stewart (Conservative, Milton Keynes South); Graham Stringer (Labour, Blackley and Broughton); Martin Vickers (Conservative, Cleethorpes).

ENDS

Corridor connection leads to brief encounter

This from Gwynneth Dunchairing...

Who should the Secretary of State's team meet in the corridor outside the TSC this evening, but the SoS for International Development!

Justine Greening (for it was she) asked how it had gone?

An evidently busy McLoughlin appeared unable to chat, leaving a couple of nervous officials to explain the TSC's exhaustive interest in InterCity West Coast and franchising policy.

"Oh. Well I hope it went OK" she said, flushed bright red and ran off frowning intently at her BlackBerry.

No doubt a text from the PM? Ah, the benefits of promotion.

Ministers not responsible for ICWC fiasco - Official

Good news for the government in the Transport Select Committee's report into the InterCity West Coast fiasco!

We now know that the following is self evidently not the case:

“More than 45 million pounds of public money has been wasted, the department and the United Kingdom have suffered huge reputational damage and the railway industry is left in a state of uncertainty and therefore Ministers in post at the time of this fiasco should consider their position.”

Indeed!

Furthermore the following actions are not required:

“Ministers at the time must take responsibility for their mistakes and misjudgements.”

Quite so.

And how do we know that Hammond, Greening and Villiers should shoulder none of the blame? 

Because the following coalition members of the TSC voted against the above paragraphs being included in the final report:

• Steve Baker (Con)
• Karen Lumley (Con)
• Karl McCartney (Con)
• Adrian Sanders (LibDem)
• Iain Stewart (Con)

Just fancy that! 

UPDATE: This from Diamond Bob...

I thought Eye readers might be interested in these wise words from iDave when reflecting on another leader whose organisation went seriously awry:

"People want to see real accountability for what has happened. When people have broken the rules, they should face the consequences and this needs a change of culture absolutely."

Yes, Prime Minister. Absolutely.

TSC confirms foresight wonderous thing

This from a Mr Lergy Fee...

My delight at reading the Rail 2020 report was tempered by their inability to get the publication year right.  

Perhaps McLoughlin should ask Ellman & co if they can help DfT catch up with delivery?

January - a time to look forward, not back!

So. The Transport Select Committee has opined on the future of the railway.

Please read our Legislators' thoughts - Here.

Meanwhile we look forward to the 8th January when NR publishes its business plan (HLOS in old money).

And on 10th January we can apparently anticipate a Ministerial Statement on the Brown Review.

In all this excitement there is only one message that the industry needs to put across:

"Move the wheel closer to the rail and structure for the customer!", whether passenger or freight (thank you Sir Robert).

That is all.

Laidlaw evidence delayed - no sh1t, Sherlock!

This from the Transport Select Committee...

RESCHEDULED ORAL EVIDENCE – RAIL 2020: WEST COAST MAINLINE FRANCHISE

The oral evidence session with Transport Committee scheduled for Tues 04 December with Sam Laidlaw and Ed Smith has been cancelled.

Commenting on this decision, Louise Ellman, Transport Committee Chair said, 

“I am very disappointed that the Government has delayed publication of Sam Laidlaw’s final report into the collapse of the West Coast Main Line franchise competition. It was expected that the report would be released last week and, as a result, we arranged to hear oral evidence from Mr Laidlaw and his colleague Ed Smith on 4 December.

“Not only has the report not appeared, but the DfT has not had the courtesy to contact us directly about the delay nor explain when this document will be made public. It is regrettable that the DfT should have added to the confusion caused by the abandonment of the West Coast Main Line competition with this episode.

“We have reluctantly decided to postpone the evidence session on the Laidlaw report until Tuesday 18 December at 10am, by which time the Laidlaw report should be in the public domain.”

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Witnesses:
10.00 am

Department for Transport

•         Sam Laidlaw, Non-Executive Director

•         Ed Smith, Non-Executive Director

The DfT delaying something and failing to communicate - now who would have guessed it?