Speeches by Mather.

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that assurance. I suppose that, in response to the amendments that he tabled, we agree that timetabling is of special significance because of the diffuse way in which it is currently organised between Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road. We are conscious of the fact that making G…”

“On locking in a 15-year strategy that can be reopened only if the Secretary of State chooses to revise it, it has been said throughout our deliberations that we do not want politicians micromanaging the railway. I therefore presume that the Secretary of State would want to reopen the three control period review envelop…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. My reading of the amendment is that it would remove the ability to amend the strategy within a 15-year period. Her broader point, about having flexibility to make determinations about the long-term rail strategy and cater for unforeseen events, technological innovations and g…”

“Good morning, Mr Western. It continues to be a pleasure to serve under your chairship. I thank right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions and for the clarity and succinctness with which they delivered them. I am afraid I will not be able to follow in their footsteps when responding to what is a chunky group of…”

“As Lord Hendy was fulsome in explaining, those involved in negotiations for the MOU are extremely cognisant of upcoming election dates in Holyrood, and I would say that they are similarly cognisant of upcoming election dates in the Senedd. I hope that provides the shadow Minister with the indication that he may need. R…”

“On the shadow Minister’s point about profit sharing, the MOU is designed to set out the operational arrangement between GBR and Welsh services. In that respect, the MOU will not affect the existing profit-sharing arrangement between the Governments for cross-border services. The shadow Minister also asked me for a litt…”

“We have already discussed amendments 166 to 168, which provide clarity on the situations in which the Secretary of State must obtain the consent of the devolved Governments when issuing directions or guidance to GBR. Amendment 169 will provide the opportunity for further clarity by encouraging the Secretary of State an…”

“I beg to move amendment 169, in clause 24, page 13, line 29, at end insert— “(da) contain provision about the use to be made of the power to give directions under section 7,”. This amendment makes further provision concerning memoranda of understanding between the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers.”

“As tempting as the right hon. Member’s requests are, if he would like me to use another phrase, I will say: as soon as possible. I say to the shadow Minister that, although he has to keep asking me about publication of the MOUs today, he may not have cause to do so in the future. That is something we are working to pro…”

“Before I speak to amendment 39, I will respond to the questions about the timings of the MOUs, but may I bring the Committee’s attention to the fact that, by reaching this clause, we are now one quarter of the way through the Bill? [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] The hard work progresses. Work has begun on negotiating th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) on securing the debate, and thank everyone for their contributions, including my hon. Friends the Members for Southport (Patrick Hurley), for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for the amendment, which is intended to prevent the Secretary of State from granting a licence to GBR unless the ORR gives a formal recommendation that licence obligations related to safety and standards are not compromised or undermined. The amendment does not specify what the ORR’s recommen…”

“Although we have had an opportunity to discuss some of the provisions regarding the creation of the licence—it being enforced by the ORR with powers that include giving GBR directions to escalate issues to its board, requiring GBR to create and publish improvement plans and issuing enforcement orders— I have heard Oppo…”

“Clause 11 introduces schedule 1, which will amend part I of the Railways Act 1993 to set out GBR’s licensing regime in a way that broadly mirrors the existing licence provisions in the 1993 Act. I will deal with schedule 1 in more detail later, but for now I commend the clause to the Committee.”

“On a point of order, Sir Alec. Before turning to the clause, I would like to correct the record. My Department’s commitment has always been to publish the draft GBR licence during the Bill’s passage, rather than before the Bill leaves the Commons, as I had said in oral evidence on 20 January. Before publication in draf…”

“Clause 9 provides a power for the Secretary of State to issue non-binding guidance to Great British Railways, which GBR must have regard to. Clause 10 provides Scottish Ministers, as funders of the railways, with the same power. Guidance provides the Secretary of State with a proactive lever to hold GBR to account, whi…”

“May I begin by addressing the point about backseat driving? Following the shadow Minister’s remarks, I identified that this is something that we want to avoid not only in future but because it is the existing scenario that we inherited. Right now, under the old system, the Secretary of State is the only person who is r…”

“On memorandums of understanding, I point the shadow Minister to the fact that the heads of terms for the memorandum of understanding with the Welsh Government have already been published. On the overall principle on the development of memorandums of understanding, the stakeholders who gave evidence to the Committee wer…”

“The amendments will improve clarity and ensure that the Railways Bill works as intended. Clauses 7 and 9, as drafted, set out that the Secretary of State must obtain consent from Scottish or Welsh Ministers when issuing a direction and guidance to GBR “in a manner that directly affects the operation of” a GBR-provided …”

“I beg to move amendment 166, in clause 7, page 5, line 4, leave out “operation of a GBR-provided Scottish service” and insert “exercise by Great British Railways of functions— (i) on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in accordance with arrangements made under section 4, or (ii) under a contract awarded under section 31(…”