Clause 27
Crossrail Bill
3:15 pm
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 44, in clause 27, page 17, line 43, at end insert—
‘( ) Where the Secretary of State makes no objection to the contract, he must indicate who he has consulted in formulating his decision.’.
If the Minister wishes to take this amendment back to his officials, I will be happy to withdraw it. The clause also relates to pre-commencement access contracts, but those that affect the operation of principal Crossrail services, as opposed to those that concern the construction of the Crossrail network itself. It gives the Secretary of State the power to object to any perceived conflict between the specified minimum operating levels of Crossrail set by him and any existing access contracts as identified by the ORR. That is my understanding, at any rate. That effectively puts more power in the hands of Government and the purpose of my amendment is merely to introduce some accountability into the process.
The Secretary of State should consult affected parties before deciding whether to object to the contract identified by the regulator. He should then be happy to indicate exactly whom he has consulted in the formulation of that decision. Does the Minister agree that that puts no particular extra or undue burdens on the Secretary of State and that the Secretary of State, whoever it might be at that time, should be happy to indicate whom he or she has consulted in the formulation of that decision?