Member

Amendments 15 and 330 would add the function for GBR to be a single employer and would mandate a related transfer scheme. As plans progress for the establishment of GBR, we are giving careful consideration to the structure and legal character of the new organisation to ensure that it delivers not only for passengers and the taxpayer but for railway staff. I recognise the huge contribution of the workforce who keep our railways running every day. Whether in stations, on trains, in signalling, in maintenance, in the back office or in management, they make a huge contribution. While I am determined that GBR works for our staff, the Bill is drafted deliberately to give GBR the flexibility to arrange its business as it sees fit. What GBR looks like on day one is not necessarily what it will look like for ever. Given the need to transfer train companies and DfTO on TUPE principles, which we acknowledge will apply wherever relevant, it would be impossible for GBR to be a single employer from day one. It is right that the Bill allows GBR to structure its business in response to future changes rather than fixing it in enduring statute. This amendment would prejudice the continuing process of designing GBR and reduce the flexibility for GBR to have a phased implementation or to restructure in the future.