Clause 35
Crossrail Bill
11:00 am
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
The explanatory notes for the clause state that it disapplies the prohibition in section 25 of the 1993 Act on public sector operators being a franchisee in respect of passenger rail services. Section 25 of the 1993 Act effectively privatised British Rail and introduced, or was the forerunner of, today’s industry structure and provides that certain public sector bodies cannot be franchisees. Those bodies include Ministers of the Crown, local authorities and passenger transport authorities. For better or for worse, depending on how we look at it, it is a competitive system whereby private sector companies bid for and operate rail franchises. The question is, therefore, whether that system is working.
If the Department for Transport believes the system to be working elsewhere in the country, why should Crossrail be different? We all know the answer to that. The clause is so worded so that Transport for London can operate Crossrail, post-construction. That raises the question whether it is intended that the bidding process will see TfL as the sole bidder.
We all understand that that is what is intended by the Mayor, with his megalomaniac tendencies, writing blank cheques from Londoners’ bank accounts. Not necessarily every Londoner would agree with that statement. Perhaps we will hear this from the Minister, but as we understand it, the Mayor has just bankrolled the construction phase of Crossrail. However, should that automatically give him the right to operate it? After all, are we convinced that the Mayor is a good operator and are we clear that that would be in the public interest? Can we be sure that health and safety standards will be properly met?
If one examined the record of TfL in operating the underground, it would at best be described as patchy. TfL management likes to blame the infracos and everyone else, but the operating statistics of the underground show that some 40 per cent. of the delays are due to TfL and its inability to operate efficiently. Do we really want the major national project of Crossrail to operate with 40 per cent. inefficiencies? I am not sure that anybody wants that. Surely even the Mayor, who at best is economical with the truth at times, does not want that or wish to publicise it. [Interruption.] Hon. Members should read the June edition of “The Londoner” and they will see what I mean.
Can we be sure that it is in the public interest to have TfL as the constructor and the operator? Where are the checks and balances? If TfL, which blames anybody but itself for faults, has both roles, who will it blame? Would it not be amusing to see the operation arm of TfL blaming the construction arm? No, it would not, because the only people to suffer would be those who travel on Crossrail. The public purse would also suffer.
It looks as though the clause has been written in so that TfL will have the right to bid for this franchise. Is it to be an exclusive franchise? How long will it run for? Who else may bid? The franchise system that the Government have created allows for franchises of seven to 10 years. Is it intended that the Crossrail operating franchise will be of the same length? I suspect not.
I ask all those questions because the shadow Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers), has intimated that we favour some reintegration of the network. TfL being the owner, if not the manager of the network and the operating model, could fit into a model of reintegration later on. However, it would not fit in with the Government’s current model of operation for the railways. I ask the Minister, is that what is intended in the clause? Is he now saying that he accepts that a degree of reintegration is viable, possible and desirable? In terms of this contract, is the clause just a Trojan horse for TfL? Is this an exclusive bidding procedure and for how long is the franchise intended to run?