Amendment no. 35, which was moved by Mr. Llwyd, aims to provide a discretionary power to transfer designated assets from a franchisee if that is warranted on passenger safety grounds. It would not achieve that as worded, and it is also unnecessary. I accept, however, the hon. Gentleman's point about the paramountcy of safety on the railways, which was a feature of the various contributions from colleagues.

If a franchise operator operates in an unsafe manner, there are various means by which it can be held to account, including the terms of the franchise agreement, the terms of its operating licence and the enforcement of the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 2000. The hon. Gentleman will know that those regulations require all railway operators to have a comprehensive safety case approved by the Health and Safety Executive before starting operations. A railway safety case ensures that a railway operation has effective arrangements in place to ensure the safety of workers, the travelling public and others who may be affected by the operation. If the operator acts in breach of its safety case, it may be prosecuted by the HSE.

The Office of Rail Regulation will only grant a licence to operate if the train operator holds a valid safety case, unless the HSE has granted a safety case exemption for any reason. The regulator may revoke a licence if the licence holder commits a serious breach of the Railways (Safety Case) Regulations. Unless exempt, it is unlawful for an operator to operate railway assets without a licence. It is an event of default under the franchise agreement if the operator's safety case is withdrawn or terminated, or if the operator is in material non-compliance with an HSE prohibition or enforcement order. All those powers are entirely adequate to protect passenger safety.

It is hard to imagine a circumstance in which passenger safety might require the ownership of designated assets such as ticket barriers, information systems or contracts to be transferred to another body. If the assets themselves are a danger to the public, it will not remedy the situation to transfer the ownership of those assets to another person. For all those reasons, amendment No. 35 is not necessary.

Amendments Nos. 4, 17 and 18, as my hon. Friend said, are intended to prevent private sector train companies operating franchises, but they would not work, nor would they outlaw franchises or transfer between operators. Taking back into the public sector each franchise as it ends costs nothing, for reasons that I shall amplify another time. It is also not the case, as my right hon. Friend Mr. Cook suggested, that the operating subsidy is far less—

It being Five o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker put the Question already proposed from the Chair, pursuant to Order [6 December 2004].

Amendment negatived.

Mr. Deputy Speaker then proceeded to put the Questions necessary to dispose of the business to be concluded at that hour.