Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The rail transformation programme
Published 27 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Rail reform: The rail transformation programme All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The rail transformation programme (HC 652), 27 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 27 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the six recommendations, with target implementation dates ranging from Winter 2024 to Spring 2025, and one marked as already implemented.
- On delivering reform, it states the department is "remobilising" and preparing for the mobilisation of shadow Great British Railways, and will "set out next steps shortly". Further legislation to create GBR was announced in the King's Speech.
- On passenger focus, it says GBR will be "incentivised by targets and performance criteria set by the Secretary of State", and a new Passenger Standards Authority will independently monitor standards.
- On subsidy and value for money, the department "expects to see these reforms delivered over the course of this parliamentary term" as legislation is enacted and private operators move into public ownership. The target implementation date given is Spring 2025.
- On accessibility, it says the department "will set out next steps as soon as possible" and will use accessibility audit data from all 2,575 stations to target future investment decisions.