Recommendations & Conclusions
14 items
2
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
There has been too little focus on passengers and taxpayers and how to get them a better deal. The Department claims that improving passenger experience is at the heart of its reform plans, but poor performance persists across the rail network. In 2022–23, 13.7% of trains were delayed and 3.8% …
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There has been too little focus on passengers and taxpayers and how to get them a better deal. The Department claims that improving passenger experience is at the heart of its reform plans, but poor performance persists across the rail network. In 2022–23, 13.7% of trains were delayed and 3.8% were cancelled. While the Department is fully aware of what is important to passengers, it has not delivered on the basic things that matter most. Taxpayers also continue to subsidise passenger rail services at a level that the Department considers unsustainable (£3.1 billion in 2022–23). It is disappointing to hear that it took a pandemic to make the Department seriously focus on making efficiency savings and changes to improve services. The Department know it needs to increase revenues and reduce costs to get to a more sustainable position, but its focus is on managing costs, while revenue goes directly to HM Treasury, along with responsibility for making up any shortfalls. This means that the Department, train operating companies and HM Treasury have different priorities when making decisions which impact revenue, and the current set up does not create the right incentives to get the best value for money for taxpayers. Recommendation 2 a) The Department should commit to producing a specific passenger-focused plan that is clear to passengers what they should expect from travelling on trains following rail reform, including clear targets that train operators are expected to achieve. b) The Department should work with HM Treasury to resolve the disincentives in the system so that it can bring the level of government subsidy on passenger services to a sustainable level and improve value for money for taxpayers. The Department should set out in its Treasury Minute how it is addressing the disincentives ahead of the next Parliament and full rail reform.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and commits to delivering the Great British Railways (GBR) model within this parliamentary term, which it states will address disincentives and aims to improve passenger services and financial sustainability. Interim actions include using annual business planning, resolving the ASLEF dispute, and mobilising …
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HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
It is unacceptable that so much of the rail network remains so difficult to access for so many people. The Department committed to improving access to the rail 6 Rail reform: The rail transformation programme network and other modes of transport as part of its 2018 inclusive transport strategy and …
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It is unacceptable that so much of the rail network remains so difficult to access for so many people. The Department committed to improving access to the rail 6 Rail reform: The rail transformation programme network and other modes of transport as part of its 2018 inclusive transport strategy and has been running its Access for All programme to address the issues faced by disabled passengers since 2006. However, the Department has made little progress in improving rail services and station infrastructure and this affects various groups of people; for example, disabled passengers, as well as parents with young children, and even the many passengers and tourists carrying luggage who would like to have access to lifts. The Department says that it will be going out to consultation shortly on a national rail accessibility strategy, but it should already have enough information about the current condition of stations and where there are accessibility issues to start tackling problems now and without further delay. Recommendation 3: The Department should fulfil its commitment to improve access to the rail network for all who wish to use it and does not need to wait for further consultation or legislation to make improvements to station facilities and train services. It should report back to the Committee alongside the Treasury Minute on its plans and timetable for when stations and trains will be accessible to all.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and commits to setting out next steps as soon as possible for improving rail accessibility, continuing the Access for All programme, and using accessibility audit data for all 2,575 stations to improve information and target future investment decisions.
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HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
We are not convinced that the Department has paid sufficient attention, in advance of the delayed creation of Great British Railways, to the changes it can make now to improve the situation for passengers and taxpayers. The Department expected its reform programme to result in annual savings of £1.5 billion. …
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We are not convinced that the Department has paid sufficient attention, in advance of the delayed creation of Great British Railways, to the changes it can make now to improve the situation for passengers and taxpayers. The Department expected its reform programme to result in annual savings of £1.5 billion. But GBR has not yet been established and this scale of saving will not materialise for many years. The Department is framing its ambitions for rail reform around the introduction of GBR, seeing this as the point at which it can start to accelerate its reforms. However, it could take up to 2 years after legislation is enacted before GBR becomes operational, while passengers and taxpayers must continue to wait for much-needed improvements. The Department is planning improvement work that does not require legislation in the meantime, but we have not seen any real sense of urgency in what it is trying to do. Recommendation 4: The Department needs to make tangible, visible progress in implementing reforms which improve outcomes for passengers and taxpayers. Its Treasury Minute response should set out a) what passenger improvements and outcomes it has delivered and b) an update on the savings it has made from rail reform in this interim period and how it has made these savings.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states it has already implemented the recommendation by delivering various reforms including rolling out barcode ticketing, expanding contactless PAYG, piloting PAYG in new regions, setting a rail freight target, and launching a rail sale. It remains focused on delivering benefits ahead …
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HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Transport (the Department) and Network Rail, in its capacity as lead for the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), about rail reform.1
Government response AI summary
The government outlines its ongoing actions on rail reform, including introducing legislation to bring passenger services into public ownership, announcing further legislation to create Great British Railways, and preparing for the mobilisation of a shadow GBR.
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
Government and industry reviews of the railways over the past two decades have identified similar problems to the Williams review.11 We asked the Department why these reviews had failed to lead to improvements. It said that reviews have not always looked at the whole of the railway in its entirety …
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Government and industry reviews of the railways over the past two decades have identified similar problems to the Williams review.11 We asked the Department why these reviews had failed to lead to improvements. It said that reviews have not always looked at the whole of the railway in its entirety as a system and that, improving the performance of the railway, both financially and for passengers, requires an examination of the whole system, which is what the Williams Review did, and which is how its current reform programme is focused. The Department told us about its hopes that this is a sustained programme that will drive reform “to some genuinely significant outcomes for passengers and taxpayers”.12 Getting passengers and taxpayers a better deal
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the implied recommendation, confirming it is pursuing a rail sector transformation program including legislation to bring passenger services into public ownership and create Great British Railways (GBR), with plans to mobilise a shadow GBR.
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
The rail sector’s performance for passengers and the taxpayer is not good enough and has not been for some time.13 The Office of Rail and Road reported 3.8% of trains were classified as cancelled in 2022–23, along with 86.3% of trains arriving at their final destination on time, meaning that …
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The rail sector’s performance for passengers and the taxpayer is not good enough and has not been for some time.13 The Office of Rail and Road reported 3.8% of trains were classified as cancelled in 2022–23, along with 86.3% of trains arriving at their final destination on time, meaning that 13.7% were delayed. These levels of performance in 2022–23 were at or worse than levels in 2019–20.14 ‘Passengers must receive high-quality, consistent services day in, day out’ was one of the ten key outcomes that the Department aimed to deliver through its rail reform programme.15 The Department told us that increasing revenues and passenger numbers are the absolute priority.16 It stated further that it knows from its research that the thing customers care most about is whether their train is going to turn up and is it going to run on time.17 Network Rail acknowledged that reliability is one of the biggest issues, and described four other passenger priorities: 8 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 9 Q 10 10 Q 9 11 C&AG’s Report, para 1.5 12 Q 89 13 C&AG’s Report, para 16 14 C&AG’s Report, para 1.6 15 C&AG’s Report, Figure 2 16 Q 39 17 Q 49 10 Rail reform: The rail transformation programme “…punctuality of your service, the ability to get a seat, the sense that you are getting a fair fare—in other words, that you are not being diddled—and, if something is going wrong, that you get a sense that somebody is looking out for you”.18
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Government response AI summary
The government states that train operators' performance is already monitored across a range of operational and service quality measures and that each operator is contractually required to set out their commitments to passengers, including arrangements for delay compensation.
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HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
Rail Partners highlighted to us the risk that the Department may look to cut passenger services to save costs which would make the railway less attractive for passengers, mean lower revenues flowing into HM Treasury, and add to cost pressures. It said that it is essential to reunite cost and …
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Rail Partners highlighted to us the risk that the Department may look to cut passenger services to save costs which would make the railway less attractive for passengers, mean lower revenues flowing into HM Treasury, and add to cost pressures. It said that it is essential to reunite cost and revenue in the Department in the short-term, and in an arms- length body after that, to avoid a sole focus on cost reduction that is negatively impacting the customer experience and revenue generation.24 Improving accessibility
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to reunite cost and revenue and is committed to delivering a unified and simplified governance structure for the railways, alongside passenger train services under public ownership. Implementation is targeted for Spring 2025.
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HM Treasury
14
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
We highlighted our concerns about the impact of the Department’s lack of progress in improving rail services and station infrastructure on various groups of people. For example, disabled passengers, as well as parents with young children, and even the many passengers and tourists carrying luggage who would like to use …
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We highlighted our concerns about the impact of the Department’s lack of progress in improving rail services and station infrastructure on various groups of people. For example, disabled passengers, as well as parents with young children, and even the many passengers and tourists carrying luggage who would like to use stations but are restricted, not just because of the condition and limitations of the infrastructure but also because there are not always staff available to operate the ramps and the lifts.29 We heard from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) that partially sighted people feel strongly that they should not have to be experts on knowing who runs which trains or staffs which stations – they consistently report that this makes a difference to their experience. The RNIB told us that staff training, digital and physical infrastructure should be as consistent as possible across the network, without passengers needing to concern themselves with which entities are responsible for different aspects of their journey.30 26 The Inclusive Transport Strategy: Achieving Equal Access for Disabled People, Department for Transport, July 2018 27 Q 58 28 Q 59 29 Q 64 30 RTP0007 12 Rail reform: The rail transformation programme 2 Making progress without legislation Improving outcomes
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and will continue to support the access for all programme, using accessibility audit data of rail stations to improve passenger information and target future investment decisions.
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HM Treasury
15
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
The Department’s scale of activity compared to its initial reform programme is much reduced. Its focus is on three types of work: short-term benefits it can achieve without legislation; promoting greater collaboration and culture change within the rail sector; and continuing some work on the future end state for reform.31 …
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The Department’s scale of activity compared to its initial reform programme is much reduced. Its focus is on three types of work: short-term benefits it can achieve without legislation; promoting greater collaboration and culture change within the rail sector; and continuing some work on the future end state for reform.31 We asked the Department what realistic progress they can make without legislation. It told us it cannot do the complete job but can make inroads and is concentrating on several things. It explained it is looking to introduce an integrated business planning process so that it can start looking at whether decisions deliver better outcomes for the system, or just better outcomes for individual organisations. It highlighted an example of a pilot between Network Rail and the train operating company Anglia which is focusing on how to improve collaboration and decision making to deliver passenger outcomes.32
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and lists progress made prior to the 2024 General Election, including barcode ticketing and LNER initiatives, and says it is focused on delivering benefits for passengers and taxpayers ahead of legislation to establish GBR. It also mentions resolving the national pay dispute …
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HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
We asked the Department for clarity around how the new contracts would work. The Department told us that it is in the process of developing a further version of national rail contracts, designed to further encourage growth in revenue and passengers, and focus on the passenger experience. It said that …
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We asked the Department for clarity around how the new contracts would work. The Department told us that it is in the process of developing a further version of national rail contracts, designed to further encourage growth in revenue and passengers, and focus on the passenger experience. It said that until it has real clarity on when GBR will be created, and who the contracting body will be, it will not be in a position to return to competition with passenger service contracts.33 The Department told us that it will have much greater certainty once legislation is in Parliament and it can then start to accelerate some of its plans. It said that the period between legislation passing and GBR becoming operational could take up to two years.34 The Department had expected reform to result in annual savings of £1.5 billion from 2026–27 onwards, but these savings have been delayed with Great British Railways not yet established.35 We asked the Department if it was still on track to meet its planned savings. The Department told us that it does not expect to achieve all the savings it forecast and cited legislation as one of the reasons why it cannot realise the full benefits of reform.36
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Government response AI summary
The government outlines its commitment to delivering rail reforms, including introducing legislation for public ownership of passenger services and creating Great British Railways (GBR), to achieve a unified governance structure and improve value for money.
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HM Treasury
17
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
We asked the Department what we can expect to see within the next six months that will make a difference and improve the passenger experience. The Department provided examples such as the Great British Rail sales, roll out and trialling of more pay-as-you- go technology for customers in various parts …
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We asked the Department what we can expect to see within the next six months that will make a difference and improve the passenger experience. The Department provided examples such as the Great British Rail sales, roll out and trialling of more pay-as-you- go technology for customers in various parts of the country, and accessibility audits of stations. But we pointed out that it is the basic things like reliability and punctuality that matter much more to passengers than the projects the Department described.37 Rail Partners highlighted published data which shows that Network Rail, as infrastructure manager, is often responsible for delays and disruption to train services rather than the train operating companies. They said it is important to diagnose the causes of the challenges on the railway correctly if the right solutions are to be prescribed.38 We pushed the Department to tell us how it is focusing on performance and making sure that trains 31 C&AG’s Report, para 13 32 Qq 24, 26 33 Q 75 34 Qq 76–77 35 C&AG’s Report, para 10 36 Q 41–43 37 Qq 48–49 38 RTP0003 Rail reform: The rail transformation programme 13 run to time. It told us about working with Network Rail and the operators to really focus on those operators where performance has been particularly challenging. Network Rail told us about the problems caused by poor drainage and how it is increasing its investment in additional drainage and track teams and replacing assets earlier.39 Clarifying key aspects of reform
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and lists progress made prior to the 2024 General Election, including barcode ticketing and LNER initiatives, and says it is focused on delivering benefits for passengers and taxpayers ahead of legislation to establish GBR. It also mentions resolving the national pay dispute …
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HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
The Department intended that Great British Railways (GBR) would act as the ‘guiding mind’ for the railways, with responsibility for the whole rail system.40 But the Department and HM Treasury disagreed on key areas of rail reform from the start, including GBR’s remit and level of independence, the extent to …
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The Department intended that Great British Railways (GBR) would act as the ‘guiding mind’ for the railways, with responsibility for the whole rail system.40 But the Department and HM Treasury disagreed on key areas of rail reform from the start, including GBR’s remit and level of independence, the extent to which it or the private sector should set fares and services, and views on how best to maximise rail revenue and manage costs.41
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee, stating it is working closely with HM Treasury to define the role, function, and oversight of Great British Railways to ensure financial sustainability, with further legislative plans to be announced.
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HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
We asked the Department about the challenges presented by not having agreement with HM Treasury from the outset of the programme about some of these aspects. The Department told us that the white paper had the collective agreement of ministers and set the broad direction and detail for some areas …
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We asked the Department about the challenges presented by not having agreement with HM Treasury from the outset of the programme about some of these aspects. The Department told us that the white paper had the collective agreement of ministers and set the broad direction and detail for some areas of reform but, in other areas, it did not set out all the detail and differing views became apparent over important, technical issues. The Department held the view that it is not exceptional for such ongoing debate to happen in complex policy areas that have a significant financial impact on government finances. It said that an Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) review around 2022 had highlighted that it needed greater alignment with HM Treasury over its plans if it was to make progress.42 The Department told us that there are still outstanding issues for discussion with HM Treasury around GBR’s responsibilities and level of independence, and the future commercial model and the extent to which the private sector takes more of the revenue risk.43
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Government response AI summary
The government will work closely with HM Treasury on defining the role, function and oversight of Great British Railways to ensure the railway is financially sustainable and will set out further information on plans for legislation as soon as is practical.
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HM Treasury
23
Recommendation
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The…
Accepted
Good policy is made through involving stakeholders. We asked about the Department’s engagement with the workforce and how it understands the practical realities and challenges facing those responsible for implementing policy on the ground. The Department told us that when its officials supported the Williams Review, they consulted very widely …
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Good policy is made through involving stakeholders. We asked about the Department’s engagement with the workforce and how it understands the practical realities and challenges facing those responsible for implementing policy on the ground. The Department told us that when its officials supported the Williams Review, they consulted very widely with trade unions and workers across the railway, to make sure there was a good understanding of perspectives. It said that, as it has taken forward reforms, it has tried to make sure it has done the same in specific areas. But we heard that the Department has not routinely engaged with rail unions at official level and that this has been done through ministers.50 The Department later wrote to us to clarify the last meetings that ministers, supported by senior officials, have held with members of trade unions.51 The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) told us that it had seen a reluctance from the Department to work constructively with the workers and their trade unions in the same manner that was achieved during the pandemic.52
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Government response AI summary
The government is resetting the relationship with the trade unions, has made a proposal to ASLEF, and believes that working in partnership with the workforce is essential for long-lasting reform.
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HM Treasury