Lord Evans of Guisborough (Con)

My Lords, in moving Amendment 38 I will speak briefly to my Amendments 39, 41, 42 and 44 in this group. This group concerns Schedule 1, on the granting of the licence to Great British Railways, and the possible granting of licences to persons other than Great British Railways, to operate railway assets. The purpose of my amendments is to strengthen the roles of the Office of Rail and Road and the Passengers’ Council, which are mentioned in this list of procedures but are regarded largely as consultees rather than having any larger role. They are supposed to be, and have been sold to us by the Government as, bodies which have significant powers to represent passengers and to work to assist with the regulation of the licence. I am afraid that the legislation amounts to an invitation to consult rather than anything stronger. Amendment 38 seeks to ensure that the Secretary of State obtains a formal recommendation rather than just a consultation from the Office of Rail and Road, in relation particularly to safety and standards, before granting Great British Railways’ licence. It would also ensure that there is consultation with the Passengers’ Council as part of that process. I will speak briefly to the other amendments. Amendment 39 addresses the same part of the process and would require an agreement rather than a consultation. Again, “consultation” is a rather weak term in legal circles; “agreement” would require much greater input from the ORR and the Passengers’ Council. It would require the Minister to listen to and work with them to a greater extent than just with a consultation. Amendments 41, 42 and 44 concern the “Grant of licence to persons other than Great British Railways”. They, too, seek to replace the consultation with a process of agreement and to strengthen input from the Passengers’ Council. They concern mainly new Section 8(4) of the 1993 Act, to be introduced by paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Bill, and the two earlier amendments are consequential on that change in subsection (4). I urge the Committee to support these amendments and the other amendments in the names of my noble friends. I beg to move.