Member

The Bill of course removes the presumption that services will be provided by private sector operators and creates a presumption that services will be provided by public sector operators—publicly owned companies. Clauses 1 and 2 provide for the temporary continuation of existing franchises, as indeed we just discussed. However, in this group there are very interesting amendments in the names of my noble friends Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Moylan. The purpose of Clause 2 is to take away the temporary nature of the extension of franchises, while Amendment 29 would change the basis on which the continuation of existing franchises is to shift from whether it is practicable for the Secretary of State to move to end the franchise services when it comes to an end, to look at the question of whether it provides a satisfactory service, and whether the franchise should be extended on that basis. I will leave my noble friends to talk to their amendments in detail, but in practice they would be a very positive way of deciding whether to continue existing franchises.