Contents
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
Parliamentary News
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
6 March 2014
27 June 2014
24 October 2014
13 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
29 Dec 2013 – Hertfordshire County Council has requested that the Government investigate the approval of expansion plans at Luton Airport. Luton Borough Council approved the plans which would enable the airport to cater to an extra six million passengers a year.
30 Dec 2013 – The airline Monarch Airways has officially opened its new hanger facility at Birmingham Airport.
31 Dec 2013 – The £80m refurbishment of Stansted Airport has reached another stage with a new security search section opening.
Industry News
30 Dec 2013 – Israel-based technology company Combtas is aiming to break into the UK corporate travel market by opening an office in London. Combtas, which was founded in 2007, has created a series of business travel tools including pre-trip budget management and expense reporting, travel data analysis and an online booking system linked to companies’ policies and negotiated rates.
Parliamentary News
3 Jan 2014 – The House of Commons Transport Select Committee published the report ‘Ready and waiting? Transport preparations for winter weather’. The report states that the resilience of UK transport infrastructure and services during periods of adverse winter weather has improved, but more needs to be done to strengthen the sector’s winter preparedness.
Launching the report Chair of the Committee Louise Ellman, said that ‘Transport is vital to economic growth. A lack of preparedness for winter weather has a direct impact on the movement of people and goods and on the economy as a whole. Disruption to transport is not just caused by snow. We saw recently the impact of severe storms and flooding on transport services.’
Ms. Ellman went on to say that the Committee recognises ‘some progress has been made by Government and transport providers to improve public information and passenger welfare during severe weather. In particular, pro-active decision-making by rail and aviation operators to reduce or cancel services ahead of a major event has reduced disruption. Nevertheless, we believe there remains considerable scope for further improvement across the transport sector.’ The report argues that it is vital:
- Passengers receive up to date information of changes and disruption whenever possible.
- 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 Highways Agency should review the barriers to providing comprehensive real-time information to drivers; identify technological and other solutions for doing so, particularly during periods of disruption; and develop a strategy to implement these solutions across the strategic road network.
- 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.
3 Jan 2014 – The Transport Committee will hold an evidence session on transport’s winter resilience: Christmas 2013. Witnesses will cover representatives from road and rail – Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive, Gatwick Airport; William McGillivray, Product Development Director, Gatwick Airport; Jason Holt, Head of Gatwick, easyJet; Peter Duffy, Customer Director, easyJet; Dave Ward, Route Managing Director for London and South East, Network Rail; and Chris Burchell, Chairman, National Task Force. Full transcripts will be published when they are available.
Media News
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 29 Dec – 5 Jan
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 29 Dec – 5 Jan
Please note there is reduced Parliamentary coverage during the Christmas/NewYear recess period.