New clause 18 - Coordination between Health and Safety Executive and the Office of Rail Regulation
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
11:00 am
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
It seems that it has now moved to the Department for Work and Pensions—yet another Department to add to the confusion.
Under the memorandum of 10 October 1996, the Health and Safety Executive carries out certain functions on behalf of the Health and Safety Commission for the Secretary of State through Her Majesty's rail inspectorate. The purpose of new clause 18 is simply to draw the various threads together.
I understand that the chief inspector of the rail inspectorate advises the Secretary of State on behalf of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive on such matters as the approval of new railway works—that does not help the hon. Member for Bath with his branch lines—and monitoring the effectiveness of the new safety regime following the privatisation of British Rail. The chief inspector also has responsibility for producing reports on serious accidents and dangerous occurrences.
Additionally, a separate memorandum of understanding exists between the Health and Safety Executive and the Office of the Rail Regulator. Its purpose is to promote effective co-ordination of the regulatory roles of each body and co-operation between them. Under the memorandum, the rail inspectorate is required to produce an annual report on the safety record of Britain's railways, focusing on the work of the inspectorate and highlighting issues of concern.
New clause 18 was drafted by my hon. Friends and me, and the hon. Member for Bath has raised pertinent points. It would have been helpful to have greater clarification. I am now even less certain about the future roles of Her Majesty's rail inspectorate, the Health and Safety Executive and the Health and Safety Commission—much more uncertain now than I was at the start of the debate. I do not know whether the Minister wants to end my confusion. We have had
a good debate. We shall want to return to the issue later, but I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.