Clause 1
Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill
11:30 am
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 1, in clause 1, page 1, line 5, at end add—
‘(3) In subsection (1) “railway services” refer only to those services that both originate and terminate in the United Kingdom.’.
It is an honour and privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Atkinson. I am sure that you and other members of the Committee will be relieved to hear that I do not intend to use words such as “consultation”, “arbitration” or “registered delivery”. Those who were in this room last week will understand the significance of that remark.
The Bill is small. In many ways, this is an exercise in refining the Railways Acts of 1993 and 2005, and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996. We support that premise because it is important that the new high speed rail link is given the statutory support that it needs so that it can be the success we hope it will be and in order for it to achieve its value.
Clause 1 attempts to clear up possible confusion about whether the Government may continue to provide financial support to the rail link, and the services running on it, now that the construction phase is completed and the services are being phased in. As we have heard from the Minister, that is deemed necessary for the avoidance of doubt in case of any future purchase or re-financing of the rail link. My fear is that the current wording does not confine that financial assistance to domestic services.
The explanatory notes say:
“the Secretary of State will also provide revenue funding for domestic services operating on the CTRL under a franchise.”
That was presumably the intention. However, it is not the intention to provide that funding for the Eurostar international services. The Bill states:
“nothing in sections 31 to 33 of the 1996 Act prevents the powers of the Secretary of State under section 6 of the Railways Act 2005 (c. 14) from being exercised in relation to the rail link or railway services on it.”
I contend that if we leave the phrase
“or railway services on it”
unamended, funding will not be restricted to domestic services. Therefore, in the spirit of helping the Government to remove any ambivalence or query, I contend that the amendment would clarify the matter and make clear that the railway services on the rail link that would potentially attract such support are only those services that originate and terminate in the United Kingdom.
Will the Minister confirm that it was his intention to provide financial assistance only to domestic services? If that is the case, I hope that he agrees that my amendment is the appropriate way of enshrining that in the Bill.