Speeches by Mather.

“Q Thank you, Mr Bowker, for coming to give evidence. Just the other day, a group of DFT civil servants were recommending your podcast to me, so you will be pleased to know that you have friends on the inside, at the heart of Government. I was pleased to hear that you agree with the concept of a guiding mind for the rai…”

“Thank you. That is a really important point, which I am sure we will come back to, but I am conscious that other Members have questions, so I will sneak in at the end if I can.”

“Q Is there anything you want to add, Jason? Jason Prince: I will probably approach this session from more of a technical point of view than a thematic one. Fundamentally, the Bill is strong as it is written and I think we have to acknowledge that. The journey to GBR started under the last Government and it is good that…”

“No, mine did not either—it is important that we also get to hear your perspective, Jason. One of the things I want to hit on is accountability. One of the benefits of the Bill that Lord Hendy stressed in his evidence to the Transport Committee is that by having a unified, guiding mind for the railway, you will have har…”

“Thank you both. I hope you feel that GBR having a legal duty to promote the interests of passengers, especially those with disabilities, is a signal that we want accessibility to be hardwired into the Bill, and not something that comes after the operational decisions about the railway have been taken. I have more quest…”

“Indeed, and many of them have similar aspirations around connectivity and growth. Mayor Burnham, was there anything you wanted to add before I hand back to Jerome? Andy Burnham: A little, thank you. I echo everything that Tracy said. I strongly welcome this Government’s rail reform journey; it is going in a positive di…”

“Q Thank you; that is a really important point. It is worth stating for the record that a number of my constituents live in your combined authority— Tracy Brabin: And what a great choice for them.”

“Q Splendid. Thank you, Chair, and we eagerly await the rest of Jerome’s questions. Welcome to you all and thank you very much for coming in and giving evidence today. I want to start with a more thematic question about the overall purpose of the Bill, and the DFT’s approach to transport more broadly. We unashamedly sta…”

“Absolutely. Thank you. Darren Caplan: My final point, to wrap this up, is that the Competition and Markets Authority civil engineering market study was published just last month. It said: “Funding settlements and infrastructure pipelines are often short-term and volatile, reducing the opportunities and incentives for p…”

“Q That is a really important point. To confirm that point, from your perspective, that specific duty is about essentially enabling you guys to be able to plan with certainty—I would have thought that consultation would be inherent to the fulfilment of that duty. Do you feel that more needs to be done to explain how far…”

“Q That is a really important point that I will be certain to take away. Does anyone else have any observations? Rob Morris: To add to that, there should be a duty on GBR to engage with the supply chain around its decisions and intentions, because essentially we will be more than 50% of the spend for GBR and it would be…”

“Q To conclude with a broad-brush question, if we set up GBR with the ability to have an integrated view of the entire rail network, especially on a passenger basis, as an organisation that has real buying power and long-term certainty about the requirements it needs, and that sits alongside a rolling stock strategy tha…”

“Okay. Thank you very much.”

“Q Forgive me. I suppose the point I am driving is that these are legal duties, and therefore the long-term rail strategy cannot be incompatible with them. Malcolm Brown: My understanding is that the legal duty is to produce it, but not what is in it. I could have a legal duty to produce a strategy. I do not have a lega…”

“Q Thank you. I take your point about the long-term rail strategy having to offer that certainty, but the LTRS also has to be compatible with a set of duties that GBR is bound to through this legislation, including to ensure the rights of passengers with disabilities, freight performance with a freight target, and long-…”

“Q Thank you. That is a really important piece of the puzzle. I suppose we have argued today that passenger growth is inherent to the functioning of GBR. If, through its duties, GBR is required to promote the interests of users and potential users of the railway, alongside a system where open access can play its role th…”

“Q Thank you all very much for giving evidence today. Mr Morris, I will begin with you for the Siemens perspective. I have had the opportunity to visit your fantastic production plant in Goole, and your local skills work is also commendable. I take the point about the need for long-term certainty in the rail industry, n…”

“Absolutely. Lord Hendy mentioned in his testimony to the Transport Committee that upcoming elections in Scotland and at the Senedd in May will focus minds as those discussions progress. I also think that is a very healthy basis on which to drive the conversation forward on these really important matters of detail. For …”

“Q I am glad to hear that. For the sake of the record, I should say that the hon. Member for Angus and Perthshire Glens was actually quoting the hon. Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter)—so that is two SNP MPs for the price of one. My second question relates to the issue raised by the Oppositi…”

“Q Thank you both so much for coming to give evidence. Mr Reeve, would you be able to speak to the overall level of working that has taken place between DFT, yourself and the Scottish Government? The most unlikely of advocates for the way in which this process has been developed is the SNP Member of Parliament, the hon.…”