Schedule 1 - Office of Rail Regulation
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
8:55 am
Mr John Spellar (Minister of State (Transport), Department for Transport; Warley, Labour)
I hoped that it was clear from my initial statement that the new bankruptcy provisions do not apply to Scotland. When the Scottish Parliament legislates, we will obviously need to take account of that. At present, however, the Bill must reflect existing provisions on bankruptcy in Scotland. The mechanism by which bankruptcy is enforced does not particularly matter for the purposes of the Bill. What matters is that a bankruptcy decision made under those mechanisms—whatever they are—deals with an individual's qualification to be a member of the Office of Rail Regulation or the British Transport Police Authority. The amendments would take account not just of the difference between Scotland and England, but the potential variation in Scotland, to get to the core of the issue, which is that those who have been adjudged bankrupt should not be allowed to serve on the various boards.
Amendment agreed to.
Question proposed, That this schedule, as amended, be the First schedule to the Bill.