Speeches by Glover.

“I am very interested in what you said, John, about the fact that the ORR will not regulate performance; the Secretary of State will. There is lots of stuff in the Bill, which we are going to get into, about how the Secretary of State will have various powers and jurisdiction, and how GBR will be a body of the state. Ye…”

“No, I’m happy, Chair, but I believe my colleague Rebecca is keen to ask something at this point.”

“You have teased something out there. It does enable a discount, but it also enables GBR to charge more if they think that an operator can pay. Does that get to the heart of needing to make sure there is good policing of those powers, to make sure they are not abused?”

“Could I ask a quick supplementary—it probably sounds niche, but I think you will all appreciate its importance—about a fairly specific aspect of the current network access charging regime? That is EC4T—a terrible acronym, even by railway standards—which stands for electricity charges for traction, I think. I am not an …”

“There are various things in the Bill about creating a new network access regime. I am sure that many people would not necessarily be overwhelmed with despair at changing the current arrangements to track access contracts and so on, but do you feel the provisions in the Bill for non-GBR operators are fair and appropriat…”

“Nick, do you have any other thoughts?”

“One of the things that gives a bit of optimism to those of us who are not necessarily completely overwhelmed—either in general or by this Bill—is the provision for a long-term rail strategy and for GBR to produce a five-year business plan, which will presumably relate to that long-term rail strategy in some way. That p…”

“Happy to move on, Chair.”

“What is your view on the ORR’s downgraded power merely to “advise” the Secretary of State on GBR’s performance, rather than having actual powers of enforcement?”

“That is a very clear answer.”

“Some interesting developments over the last few months have been on things such as certain letters to the ORR about open access—which of course you worded very diplomatically, although I would assess, based on my verbal reasoning, that they were basically telling you to not give any of it. In your view, could clause 63…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) for securing this debate and the powerful points that she made, especially about how young people are often lazily demonised as being an idle generation. That view fails to take into account ho…”

“In what circumstances would you see the Secretary of State issue directions and guidance to GBR? Is the Bill clear on that?”

“We have alluded to some of this already; the Bill allows for the Secretary of State to issue guidance and direction to GBR. Do you envisage that the ORR will have any role in that issuing process, or in scrutinising that guidance and direction?”

“For decades, rail fares have been subject to above-inflation increases, and many people feel that prices such as £7,780 for an annual season ticket from Didcot to the London travelcard area do not represent good value for money and hinder the railways’ potential to reduce congestion and contribute to economic growth. D…”

“The new railway between Oxford, Bicester and Milton Keynes has been open for more than a year, successfully running freight and charter trains, but passenger trains have yet to start. When will passenger services begin, and what does the Secretary of State feel are the lessons for her Department as to what has gone wro…”

“My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight the importance of mental health support for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Will she join me in paying tribute to my constituent Peter Cook, who is doing great work as a trustee of the Parkinsons.Me charity, and also to Paul Mayhew-Archer MBE, who, as well as having…”

“There are lots of things I could follow up but I do not want to hog the time.”

“Secretary of State, everyone is hoping that people living on the east side of the country in London and Edinburgh are going to get an early Christmas present, with next month’s introduction of the largest timetable change on the east coast main line for a very long time. There is quite a lot of disquiet in the industry…”

“In the recent government reshuffle, it ended up, as we understand it, that one of your ministerial team is now shared with the Whips Office. Therefore, if our maths is correct, that has been a net reduction in the number of full-time Ministers working for the Department. How do you feel that that is going to affect the…”