Schedule 1 - Office of rail regulation
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
3:15 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
It is clearly a source of disappointment to the Opposition that the Under-Secretary does not accept our amendment, but I have some sympathy with his point, which was well made, that the board should not be too big.
The hon. Member for Bath referred to conclusion T on page 39 of the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee report:
''While the need for an independent economic regulator with clearly defined responsibilities, duties and objectives will continue, the respective roles of the Regulator and the Strategic Rail Authority should be reviewed.''
I referred earlier to why it was so important to set out in the Bill, preferably in schedule 1, what those roles should be.
The hon. Member for Bath may not have had the benefit of reading the minority report, which was put together by my hon. Friends and me. It was the first time that I was—I hope the last time, too—put in the good offices of a Clerk, who is with us today, to put together a minority report, which obviously requires a lot of work. I draw to the Committee's attention conclusion B at paragraph 26 of that report:
''If the Strategic Rail Authority is to remain a viable force, the Government must allow the Authority to operate independently and free from Government interference. The Strategic Rail Authority must be held to its responsibility to publish an annual report and update its Strategic Plan.''
I note for the record that the SRA published its annual report this week, and the only parliamentary vehicle by which we could consider it was a written ministerial statement. It was three lines long and simply took note of the fact that two documents—the annual report and the annexe, which I obtained from the Vote Office—remain available. That progress report should be debated if Parliament is to have any hope of ensuring that the Strategic Rail Authority remains a viable force that operates independently.
The debate has been useful, and the amendment has served its purpose in probing the Government and
eliciting a sympathetic hearing. We will obviously return to the subject later. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Further consideration adjourned.—[Joan Ryan.]
Adjourned accordingly at twenty-five minutes past Three o'clock till Tuesday 11 February at five minutes to Nine o'clock.