Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
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 The unpublished documents are important not just for scrutiny, …
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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 The unpublished documents are important not just for scrutiny, but for confidence throughout the industry. This inquiry has picked up on issues that may be addressed in future documentation, such as issues of accountability and enforcement, the independence of the Passengers’ Council, and the potential truly to improve on rail accessibility, but this list cannot be treated as exhaustive—there may be other unintended consequences, conflicts or omissions that we are yet to be able to identify. (Conclusion, Paragraph 6)
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Government response AI summary
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.
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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
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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
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Government response AI summary
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.
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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 …
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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 of the current Government that the power only be used sparingly could be reflected in the legislation. (Conclusion, Paragraph 20)
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Government response AI summary
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.
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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 …
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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 the wider economy. (Conclusion, Paragraph 23)
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Government response AI summary
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.
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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 …
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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 ORR to have regard to detail on how to balance duties that is contained in the business plan, it must put that detail into statutory guidance. (Conclusion, Paragraph 38)
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Government response AI summary
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.
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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 …
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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 against the relevant standards to be taken into account by a court making a judgment on whether the duty to promote the interests of users in clause 18(2)a has been met. (Recommendation, Paragraph 44)
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Government response AI summary
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 adjustments duty at section 20 …
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Department for Transport