Recommendations & Conclusions
33 items
1
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted
We recognise the need for structural change on the railways. We support the main purpose of the Railways Bill: to establish Great British Railways as a single organisation overseeing both track and train, and capable of acting as a ‘directing mind’ for the railway. (Conclusion, Paragraph 3)
Government response. The government will publish a document this Spring outlining key documents and target dates to ensure Parliament and industry stakeholders have confidence that further information on these products will be timely and forthcoming.
Department for Transport
2
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
Understandably, and as with previous railways legislation, the Railways Bill gives a partial picture of the framework for a new regime under Great British Railways. The Bill is designed to last a long time and is accompanied by various additional documentation. The unpublished documents are important not just for scrutiny, …
Government response. The Government notes the recommendation and agrees that departmental select committees can be a valuable and important part of the scrutiny process, stating that they are pleased to continue engagement with the Committee.
Department for Transport
3
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
Before the Bill reaches Report Stage in the House of Commons the Department for Transport should publish a comprehensive list, with target dates, of decisions, key documents and planned consultations leading up to the establishment of Great British Railways and in its first year of operation. This should include milestones …
Government response. The government partially agrees with the recommendation, stating micromanagement is a symptom of fragmentation and that a legislative requirement is not necessary. However, in acknowledgement of a shared vision, they are willing to provide further information on the power as …
Department for Transport
4
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
Departmental committees have an important contribution to make to scrutiny of legislation, being less adversarial and more specialist than Bill committees, and being able to continue scrutiny of the policy implementation long after the legislation is passed. (Conclusion, Paragraph 9) 32
Government response. The Government welcomes the conclusion drawn by the Committee that the clarity provided by a Long Term Rail Strategy (LTRS) will have benefits in terms of efficiency, planning for rail infrastructure and clarity for the wider economy.
Department for Transport
5
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
We urge the Government to consider how best to manage the timetabling of major legislation in the House of Commons to give a reasonable opportunity for relevant departmental select committees to conduct complementary scrutiny. (Recommendation, Paragraph 10) A better railway for passengers
Government response. The government partially agrees with the recommendation. While the government agrees that it is vital the LTRS does not become short-term, it disagrees that a legislative amendment is needed. However, the government will commit to laying a Written Ministerial Statement …
Department for Transport
6
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
The Government intends that Great British Railways should be a responsible guiding mind: to achieve this, it requires independence and protection from political interference in its day-to-day operations. Clause 7 as currently drafted would permit a future Secretary of State, if so minded, to micromanage GBR through directions. The intention …
Government response. The government notes this recommendation, welcomes the Committee’s support for an aligned set of duties across key industry bodies within the Railways Bill, and disagrees with the need for the Secretary of State to provide statutory guidance.
Department for Transport
7
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
We recommend that clause 7 of the Bill be amended to require that use of the power of direction must be necessary and proportionate. This would preserve the Secretary of State’s power of enforcement over GBR and ability to course-correct on strategic issues, but would prevent micromanagement of its operations. …
Government response. The government partially agrees, stating the Bill does not need to be amended to ensure relevant policies are considered by a court, and arguing that the intention is already delivered by the legislation. They state there are multiple steps affected …
Department for Transport
8
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
We welcome the Bill’s provision for a Long Term Rail Strategy. The more clarity that can be given to both the public and private sector about the long-term strategic aims for the railway, the greater the benefits will be in terms of efficiency, planning for rail infrastructure and clarity for …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee that increasing passenger numbers is important and that GBR must actively work to attract passengers to use our railways.
Department for Transport
9
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
More detail in the Bill on what the Long Term Rail Strategy must include would help to ensure the document is meaningful and useful, and that it gives a measure of clarity and certainty. (Recommendation, Paragraph 26)
Government response. The government will update the Explanatory Notes accompanying the Bill to clarify that the list of areas the Passengers' Council may consider when setting passenger standards is not exhaustive.
Department for Transport
10
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
There is inevitably a tension between realising the value of a truly long- term strategy and recognising that governments must retain discretion and flexibility. It is essential that the Long Term Rail Strategy does not lose continuity and become in effect a series of short-term strategies. The Bill should be …
Government response. The government acknowledges the Committee’s concerns about the speed of referral and agrees that it is critical that passenger issues are dealt with appropriately, effectively, and swiftly. The provisions outlined in the Bill regarding this will therefore be supported by …
Department for Transport
11
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Deferred
We welcome the Government’s original commitment to publishing the draft GBR licence before the Bill leaves the House of Commons. We urge the Government to publish at least an initial draft of GBR’s licence before the Bill’s Report Stage so that the draft can be subject to scrutiny by the …
Government response. The government agrees that the Passengers’ Council must be a robust, independent voice and recognises the important role the Chair will have. As the recommendation is not legislative in nature, the government will continue to consider it as part of …
Department for Transport
12
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
There are benefits to unified duties but the Bill is insufficiently clear on how they will operate in decision-making, in particular the weighting to be assigned to each factor. The Office of Rail and Road will enforce GBR’s business plan but is not bound by it. If the Government intends …
Government response. The government welcomes the Committee’s support and notes the recommendation, highlighting the duties in clause 18 and clause 36 for promoting the interests of disabled passengers.
Department for Transport
13
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
As GBR is accountable to the Secretary of State for fulfilment of its duties, we recommend the Secretary of State issues and publishes statutory guidance on how GBR, at least, should weigh up competing elements of the duties. This will allow for consistency and transparency in decision-making. The guidance must …
Government response. The government partially agrees, stating they intend to confirm the application of the general and specific Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to GBR through powers under section 153 of the Equality Act 2010 once GBR is designated. They disagree with …
Department for Transport
14
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
It is not clear from the Bill how the Secretary of State, GBR and the ORR will be assessed on how they fulfil their clause 18 duties or how the duties will be enforced should they fall short. There is a danger that the Secretary of State’s interpretation of the …
Government response. The government will not legislate to ensure representation of disabled passengers on the Passengers’ Council Board, but will confirm its intentions to maintain the current level of representation on the floor of the House.
Department for Transport
15
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Acknowledged
We are concerned that there is no specific mechanism to assess GBR’s performance against the passenger interest duty placed on it by the Bill. The standards set by the Passengers’ Council will be part of GBR’s licence, enforced by the ORR. The Bill should also contain a mechanism for performance …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the duty at clause 18(2)(a) of the Bill will require the sector bodies to promote the interests of passengers. It notes that accessibility duties will support some of the requirements under the reasonable …
Department for Transport
16
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Rejected
The Bill should be amended to include a duty on the Secretary of State to set a passenger journey growth target similar to the duty to set a freight growth target in clause 17. A target would incentivise commercially-minded improvements to services. This must not come at the expense of …
Government response. The government rejects the recommendation to include a duty on the Secretary of State to set a passenger journey growth target, arguing that GBR's existing duties already address this and will enable sensible decisions to target passenger growth across the …
Department for Transport
17
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
Standards set by the Passengers’ Council will be a crucial tool in improving the passenger experience of the railways. The Government clearly intends the Council to set such standards, so it is odd that the Bill only confers on it the power to do so rather than requiring this to …
Government response. The government disagrees that legislation is needed to ensure consultation with affected parties should the power at clause 71 ever need to be used but agrees that, should the power ever need to be used, consultation with affected parties is …
Department for Transport
18
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Rejected
The reliance of the Passengers’ Council on the Office of Rail and Road to take enforcement action could add complexity and delay to an already complicated system for complaints, enforcement and remedies, and we are concerned that an opportunity to streamline these elements of the railway could be missed. (Conclusion, …
Government response. The government disagrees with amending the Bill to require ORR to take action on referrals from the Passengers' Council, stating there's already a robust appeal route to the ORR and that the ORR needs a holistic view.
Department for Transport
19
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Rejected
The Passengers’ Council will be required by the Bill to protect passengers’ rights through monitoring operators’ compliance with its standards and receiving, considering and investigating complaints. It must be trusted to carry out that role. We consider it unlikely in the extreme that the Council would find a frivolous matter …
Government response. The government disagrees with amending the Bill to mandate GBR to enter into arrangements with Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs), stating that enabling arrangements provides flexibility and that legislation is not needed to ensure engagement with local leaders.
Department for Transport
20
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Not Addressed
To enhance and help safeguard the independence of the Passengers’ Council, we recommend that the Chair of its board be added to the list of posts for which our Committee is expected to hold a pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s preferred candidate. (Recommendation, Paragraph 57)
Government response. The government's response discusses working with local leaders through GBR business units and MSAs, but fails to address the recommendation to add the Passengers’ Council Chair to the list of posts for pre-appointment hearings.
Department for Transport
21
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
The specific inclusion of disabled passengers in the clause 18 passenger duty, and in the duty on the Passengers’ Council in clause 36, are welcome means for improving the rail network’s focus on accessibility through the Bill. The Bill could further support this aim and give the duties teeth by …
Government response. The Government agrees that GBR will need to have the flexibility to engage multiple MSAs on local services that cross authority boundaries but do not believe an amendment is needed to the Bill to achieve this.
Department for Transport
22
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted
The clause 18 duty on Great British Railways, the Office of Rail and Road and the Secretary of State, and the clause 36 duty on the Passengers’ Council, should be amended to require these bodies to exercise their functions in a way that improves accessibility of the rail network. (Recommendation, …
Government response. The Government welcomes the Committee’s support for the specific inclusion of the needs of disabled passengers in the passenger interest duty at clause 18, and in the duty on the Passengers’ Council at clause 36 and Accessibility is one of …
Department for Transport
23
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
Under the Bill as drafted, GBR is subject to the general Public Sector Equality Duty but not the specific equality duties that support the general duty. The Bill should be amended to add GBR to the list of bodies in schedule 2 of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and …
Government response. The government intends to confirm the application of specific PSED to GBR through powers under section 153 of the Equality Act 2010, disagreeing with the recommended amendment to the Bill.
Department for Transport
24
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
The Bill should be amended to require that at least two members of the Passengers’ Council board have lived experience of travelling as a disabled person. We see no reason why the Government’s intentions in this respect should not be codified and safeguarded in legislation, given the utmost importance of …
Government response. The Government is clear that the Passengers’ Council must represent all passengers including disabled passengers and confirm its intentions for this on the floor of the House to ensure both the Committee and disabled passengers are reassured there will be …
Department for Transport
25
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted
The Department for Transport has previously accepted the need to update and streamline the complex and confusing legal framework for transport accessibility. It would be unhelpful were the Railways Bill to add more complexity to this situation, especially if it did not meaningfully add to practical opportunities for enforcement action …
Government response. The government notes the recommendation but believes the Railways Bill is already clear on the matter of transport accessibility and freight, referring to existing clauses and stakeholder engagement.
Department for Transport
26
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted
The Equality Impact Assessment should have been published alongside the Bill to assist parliamentary scrutiny; we look forward to seeing it published as soon as possible. We ask that the Government clarify in that document or elsewhere the intended legal relationship between the clause 18 duty on promoting the interests …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, stating that the accessibility duty will independently support some of the requirements under the reasonable adjustments duty at section 20 of the Equality Act 2010, and that this relationship is set out in the …
Department for Transport
27
Conclusion
8th Report - Railways Bill
Rejected
We welcome the requirement in clause 17 for the Secretary of State to set a target to increase freight on the railways and the duty in clause 18(2)b. We note that the Government is aware of the risk that GBR would not otherwise have an incentive to grow rail freight. …
Government response. The government disagrees that the Bill needs amending to clarify the relationship between clause 60 and clause 63 and will instead provide additional clarity to reassure stakeholders.
Department for Transport
28
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Not Addressed
While the Government insists that the intended relationship between clause 60 and clause 63 is clear, multiple stakeholders disagree. The Bill should be amended to make it clear that the capacity duty does not apply until after an infrastructure capacity plan has been developed. (Recommendation, Paragraph 72)
Government response. The government disagrees that the Bill needs amending and will instead provide additional clarity which Ministers would be happy to repeat on the floor of the House to reassure stakeholders and the Committee alike; clause 63 duty does not apply …
Department for Transport
29
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
The broad powers in clause 71 for the Secretary of State to alter existing access agreements could have a dampening effect on long-term investment in the railways by giving rise to uncertainty. The Government must consider whether these powers can be revised to provide reassurance to business and industry. The …
Government response. The government partially agrees, committing to consultation with affected parties if the power at clause 71 is used but disagrees that legislation is needed to mandate this. They state the ability to amend contracts is a necessary legal backstop as …
Department for Transport
30
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Rejected
While the role of open access passenger services is a matter for debate, we note that it is the Government’s clear intention to promote greater freight use of the railway. The appeal mechanism for open access decisions set out in the Bill—applying judicial review principles—is overly narrow and jeopardises this …
Government response. The government disagrees with amending the Bill to give freight operators the ability to appeal access decisions to the Office of Rail and Road, stating that there is already a robust route of appeal to the ORR within the Bill …
Department for Transport
31
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Not Addressed
Mechanisms in the Bill comprising the new statutory role for Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) could risk being too subject to goodwill. GBR should be required to enter into mayoral partnerships when requested to do so by an MSA whose request meets certain criteria in line with the Long Term Rail …
Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee that the Bill needs to be amended, legislation is not needed to ensure engagement with local leaders on the Long-Term Rail Strategy and the Bill is clear that GBR must have regard to Local …
Department for Transport
32
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
We acknowledge that effective local control over rail services can best be exercised at the level of strategic authorities. It is essential that all parts of England should be able to engage effectively with GBR and, in particular, to hold it to account for its local or regional performance. The …
Government response. The government agrees working with local leaders is key and GBR will be organised locally, and states that all tiers of local government in England will benefit from empowered local GBR business units; they will continue to consider the role …
Department for Transport
33
Recommendation
8th Report - Railways Bill
Accepted in Part
The provisions in clause 5 should be amended to enable GBR to enter into a single arrangement with more than one relevant local government body, to allow for effective co-operation on local services that cross authority boundaries. (Recommendation, Paragraph 87) 37
Government response. The government partially agrees, stating GBR will need flexibility to engage multiple MSAs on local services that cross authority boundaries and the Bill allows for flexibility, but an amendment is not needed to achieve this.
Department for Transport