Independent review
Independent regulatory review of the Office of the Rail and Road (ORR)
Government response
No government response is recorded for this review.
About this review
Summary written by this siteIndependent regulatory review of the Office of Rail and Road, carried out by Dr Richard Judge for the Department for Business and Trade and published on 3 September 2026.
Recommendations 12
1Set out what delivery of ORR’s revised purpose means in practice
DfT, with ORR/ NR/ DFTO, to publish a shared understanding of how ORR’s revised purpose will be delivered in practice, including intended changes over time, success measures, and the key choices and assumptions made. by December 2026
2Deliver an organisational redesign, informed by a skills, capability and culture audit
ORR (a) to define key parameters for its organisational redesign, informed by R1 and the intended cultural shift; (b) complete a comprehensive skills, capability and culture audit against these and finalise its redesign. (a) by December 2026 (b) by June 2027
3Establish a system-wide dashboard for rail system performance
DfT and ORR, jointly, to design a system-wide dashboard with objectives and key results to track overall rail system performance, and with visibility of relevant benchmarks, trade-offs and implications for railway users. by September 2027
4Account for “whole-of-system” impacts when assessing proportionality of risk controls
ORR, with industry, to establish a structured programme that identifies future options to account for varied “whole-of-system” effects in ALARP assessments (such as wider rail system factors, societal externalities, and risk transfer to roads). by March 2027
5Publish “ways of working” principles for applying cost–benefit analyses
ORR, with industry, to set out ways of working principles (spanning behaviours, communications and processes) based on existing legislation that assist in applying cost–benefit analyses and incorporating “wider rail system factors”. by March 2027
6Improve transparency around regulatory priorities and interventions
ORR to enhance transparency of the rationale behind its safety priorities and interventions, with improved visibility of factors considered (e.g. trade-offs, cost considerations, and system impacts). by March 2027
7Refresh and realign roads statutory and policy documents
DfT, consulting ORR and NH, to refresh and re-align key statutory and policy documents, addressing any inconsistencies and supporting a shared understanding of the roles of all parties to Roads Reform. by March 2027.
8Take stock of the funding model for ORR’s roads function
DfT to consider how best to ensure that ORR’s funding enables it to discharge its roads duties in a meaningful way, including options for aligning funding more closely with the models used for rail by March 2027
9Establish a robust mechanism for ORR to support SRN long term asset stewardship
DfT to consider how ORR might be enabled and funded to play a more explicit role in supporting the SRN’s long-term asset health, ideally within refreshed duties, potentially aligning to comparable future rail duties by March 2027.
10Design a RAB regulatory framework for the Lower Thames Crossing
ORR, with DfT, to design and populate a robust regulatory framework for LTC RAB financing that supports investor confidence and independent oversight, drawing on lessons from other sectors, e.g. Ofgem, Ofwat and NISTA by September 2027
11Enhance integration of ORR’s multi-disciplinary expertise
ORR to identify and embed opportunities for greater road and rail integration within its future organisational design and internal working practices by September 2027
12Set out how ORR should support the Better Connected strategy
DfT to set out clear expectations for ORR’s role in supporting the Better Connected Strategy, including how ORR should respond to strategic SofS steers that are not directly aligned with its duties, powers and objectives by March 2027
All text above is the review's.
No recommendations have this response.