Tom Harris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Glasgow South, Labour)

The amendment would require the ORR to invite representations from parties other than the Secretary of State when it considered that an access contract needed amending if use of the railway facility to which the contract related would be affected by the construction of Crossrail.

The amendment is not strictly necessary, but I accept that it might have some merit, so I would like to consider it with officials in the Department. The ORR does not need authority to consult as widely as it considers appropriate, because nothing in clause 26 prevents it from doing that already. The ORR would in practice need to consult at least the parties to the affected access contracts before it could decide whether and how the contracts needed amending. Subsection (4) enables the ORR to require the parties to propose the directions that should be given. The ORR has established consultation policies and a track record of  facilitating a very open process on access matters, so the decision on what is appropriate consultation can be trusted to it. I have explained my position on the amendment. However, if the hon. Gentleman insists on pressing the amendment, I shall have to ask my colleagues to vote against it.

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