Thirteenth Report of Session 2012-13 PDF Download

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215049773
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215070828
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Far better contingency planning and preparedness must be put in place by UK airports, and by the airlines that use them, to prevent the kind of chaos that unfolded at Gatwick Airport on Christmas Eve 2013. The problems that unfolded were not new and the whole event should be a wake-up call for airports across the UK to improve their operational resilience. Airports must ensure that their contingency planning is good enough to ensure that future disruption will be met with well-drilled arrangements that are familiar to airport operators, airlines, and other contractors, and which put passenger interests first. If our largest airports cannot demonstrate they can do this then the Civil Aviation Authority must act. Passengers must also be promptly reimbursed for the extra costs they face as a consequence of disruption. The Committee welcomed a key conclusion from Gatwick's own review of the events on Christmas Eve that the airport should appoint passenger champions at each of its terminals. Similar arrangements should also be put in place at other major UK airports. Further recommendations include that airports should: develop (in consultation with airlines) much clearer operational protocols and guidance on the threshold conditions that will trigger the cancellation or postponement of flights; negotiate robust agreements with airlines (which carry formal responsibility for passenger welfare) for reclaiming the costs of looking after passengers during periods of disruption. Government should also push for amendments to a proposed new EU regulation on passenger compensation to include electronic means of alert and information dissemination

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215084217
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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The Committee examined a number of case studies during its inquiry including the Mersey Gateway Project, the Tyne Tunnels and proposals for new crossings in East London and the Lower Thames. The Transport Committee says a short-term approach to planning key infrastructure projects has left many estuary areas in the UK with inadequate transport capacity and poor connectivity: "A lack of cross-river capacity limits local and national economic growth so we call upon the Government to take a far more long-term approach when planning new bridges and tunnels. The Government must rectify that weakness as soon as possible. Important infrastructure projects, such as the Mersey Gateway Bridge, have the potential to generate economic growth by linking workers to jobs and consumers to retailers." The Committee welcomes proposals to build a package of new river crossings in east London and believes these developments are "long overdue."

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215058799
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Proposals for reforms for the EU as a whole are likely to find a more favourable reception than possible requests for further 'special treatment' for the UK. The Committee is sceptical that other Member States would be willing to renegotiate existing EU law so as to allow the UK on its own to reduce its degree of integration, especially where this could be seen as undermining the integrity of the Single Market. Other Member States appear to want the UK to remain an EU Member. Closer Eurozone integration is a potential risk to the position of the UK and other non-Eurozone states in the EU. However, the December 2012 agreement on the Single Supervisory Mechanism for banking regulation shows what the UK can achieve to protect its position. The Eurozone is in any case far from a homogenous bloc and the expansion and closer integration of the Eurozone does not therefore necessarily render the UK's position in the EU impossible or worthless. This report does not examine whether the UK should remain in the EU or withdraw. However, it agrees with the Government that, if the UK were to leave the EU, the current arrangements for relations with the EU which are maintained by Norway or Switzerland would not be appropriate for the UK. If it is in the UK's interest to remain in the Single Market, the UK should either remain in the EU, or launch an effort for radical institutional change in Europe to give decision-making rights in the Single Market to all its participating states

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215083784
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081110
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081005
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Author: Great Britain. Treasury
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101853422
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Dated January 2013. The reports published as HC 104 (ISBN 9780215047670), HC 288 (ISBN 9780215047632), HC 532 (ISBN 9780215048684), HC 388 (ISBN 9780215048691), HC 103 (ISBN 9780215048653); HC 389 (ISBN 9780215049704)

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215065995
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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The last few years have seen a number of periods when severe weather has led to widespread travel disruption, exposing a lack of preparedness across all modes of transport in terms of infrastructure, resources, and looking after the interests of passengers. Pro-active decision-making by rail and aviation operators to reduce or cancel services ahead of a major event has reduced disruption. However there is scope for further improvement. The Highways Agency should review the barriers to providing comprehensive realtime information to drivers. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) should ensure that train operating companies develop more robust procedures to identify how long a period of disruption is likely to last and to communicate this clearly to passengers. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) should set out how it will evaluate the impact of the new airport licence conditions on passenger welfare, by Spring 2015. The CAA must also ensure that best practice on the provision of information and on passenger welfare is shared across all UK airports. The availability of salt for gritting roads has improved with the establishment of the strategic salt reserve. More, though, should be done to keep pavements clear of ice and snow. However, winter weather is about more than just snow, as illustrated by the 'St Jude' storm across southern England and the more recent storm stranding thousands at Gatwick. The transport sector must continue to work closely with the Met Office and other forecasters. Finally, embedding a culture of continuous review and improvement must remain a priority.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215050922
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Implementation of the Government's modernisation programme risks damaging the coastguard. Confusion about the role of the new national Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) and mixed messages about local knowledge and coastguard station closures has undermined staff morale across the service and caused great concern that the vacancy rate for skilled staff has doubled since 2010. There is a worrying lack of information about what coastguards at the MOC will actually do from day to day or how these new staff will work with local coastguards. The MCA's stance in respect of the local knowledge which coastguards in co-ordination centres must have is also confusing and contradictory. The MCA needs to set out its strategy for staff training and articulate its vision of why coastguards in MRCCs need to gain and retain local knowledge. MCA management must schedule and remunerate staff to pursue this expertise, not leave them to organise themselves when they are off duty. The Committee also expresses concern about arrangements for Emergency Towing Vessels and plans for fire fighting at sea now that the Maritime Incident Response group has been withdrawn. The Government is called to provide statistics on the age profile and length of service of coastguards at each MRCC and to set out its strategy for retaining experienced coastguards, particularly in terms of recruitment to positions based at the MOC