Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted in Part
Ambiguity in assessing and enforcing Clause 18 duties for GBR, SoS, and ORR.
Conclusion
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 duties may be overly dominant, which risks impairing the independence of ORR as a regulator. (Conclusion, Paragraph 43)
Government Response Summary
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.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The Government partially agrees with this recommendation. The Government is clear that the Passengers’ Council must represent all passengers including disabled passengers. Under current arrangements, the Passengers’ Council Board is comprised of 8 members. Two of the members of the current Passengers’ Council Board have direct experience of accessibility issues. Of these, one has lived experience as a disabled passenger; and one is a former chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and is the current chair of the National Centre for Accessible Transport. The Government is not proposing to change this as the Passengers’ Council moves from Transport Focus to the Passengers’ Council. Additionally, the general duties contained in clause 18 of the Railways Bill to promote the interests of passengers including, in particular the needs of disabled passengers and to act in the wider public interest will apply when making decisions relating to Board appointments for the Passengers’ Council. This will ensure that the future composition of the Board continues to be suitably representative of passengers, including disabled passengers. Therefore, while legislation is not needed to ensure this representation continues, the Government will happily confirm its intentions for this on the floor of the House to ensure both the Committee and disabled passengers are reassured there will be no rolling back of representation on the Board of the Passengers’ Council.