Clause 59
Crossrail Bill
5:00 pm
Tom Harris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Glasgow South, Labour)
Clause 59 allows the Secretary of State, by means of an order, to devolve certain provisions of the Bill to the Greater London authority, Transport for London or to both. This power is necessary to allow the flexibility for the Crossrail project to be taken forward by these bodies, if that is in the best interest of delivering the project most efficiently.
To answer the hon. Gentleman’s question directly, he will know that it is intended that the Mayor and TfL will be responsible for the delivery of the project, and the powers in clause 59 might be needed to facilitate their taking the project forward. That said, I have to disappoint him because it is not yet clear which of the powers that are listed in subsection (7) will be devolved to the Mayor and/or TfL or whether the project governance arrangements that have been announced could be better delivered by other means. However, we believe it is right that the Secretary of State should be capable of devolving specific powers in the Bill if that is what is decided should happen.