Schedule 2 - Abolition of Rail Regulator: Consequential Amendments
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
10:15 am
Mr John Spellar (Minister of State (Transport), Department for Transport; Warley, Labour)
I reassure the hon. Lady that the Rail Safety and Standards Board will not withdraw any of the regular's functions, nor will those functions be withdrawn when they transfer to the Office of Rail Regulation. With regard to the timing of the board's implementation, we have stated that we do not plan to introduce the Office of Rail Regulation before mid–2004. The regulator's appointment runs until then. As the hon. Lady will be aware, we have agreed to undertake an interim review of Network Rail's charges. That will occupy the regulator and his team over the next year. It is important that that work is not disrupted in any way.
The hon. Lady also mentioned the Transport Act 2000. I draw her attention to paragraph 19(t), which deals with that. The Office of Rail Regulation is substituted for the rail regulator in the appropriate clauses.
Yet again, I hope that the hon. Lady is satisfied that we are reading across from current regulations on the role of the Office of the Rail Regulator, and transferring those functions and duties to the Office of Rail Regulation. The schedule gives effect to the principles outlined in the clause.