Threads / Railways Bill Implementation / It is not clear from the Bill how the Secretary of State, G…
Committee Material Published 10 Feb 2026 ↗ View on Parliament

It is not clear from the Bill how the Secretary of State, GBR and the ORR will be assessed on how they fulfil their clause 18 duties or how the duties will be enforced should they fall short. There is a danger that the Secretary of State’s interpretation of the duties may be overly dominant, which risks impairing the independence of ORR as a regulator. (Conclusion, Paragraph 43)

It is not clear from the Bill how the Secretary of State, GBR and the ORR will be assessed on how they fulfil their clause 18 duties or how the duties will be enforced should they fall short. There is a danger that the Secretary of State’s interpretation of the duties may be overly dominant, which risks impairing the independence of ORR as a regulator. (Conclusion, Paragraph 43) Type: conclusion | Number: 14 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: The Government partially agrees with this recommendation. The Government is clear that the Passengers’ Council must represent all passengers including disabled passengers. Under current arrangements, the Passengers’ Council Board is comprised of 8 members. Two of the members of the current Passenger