Scotland Bill

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Tuesday 19th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Dunlop]

Just to clarify, the clause that we are talking about relates to Scotland-only franchises. As I said earlier, not-for-profit entities are not precluded from being rail franchisees under the Railways Act 1993.

To return to what I was saying, both franchises have been in operation since April.

[Lord McFall of Alcluith (Lab)]

If a not-for-profit enterprise is allowed in Scotland, could that not-for-profit enterprise bid for a cross-border railway to the Department for Transport, or would that be disallowed? That is the issue.

[Lord Dunlop]

I think we are talking about devolution to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. Therefore, we are talking about only rail services that are in the province of the Scottish Government, not ones that are let through the Department for Transport’s process.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord McFall of Alcluith]

If that is the case, and given the potential decision-making for the Scottish Parliament, it is important for the Minister to go back and get clarification on this issue. This could become a live issue in a short period of time.

[Lord Dunlop]

I am happy to give the noble Lord the assurance that we will get clarification. I am happy to write to him on that.

To complete what I was saying, the ScotRail franchise has a break clause after five years, but in practice that means that a new competition for either Scottish rail franchise will not occur until 2020 at the earliest. For those reasons, the Government consider Amendment 64 to be unnecessary and that it would only add uncertainty to the clause. Therefore, I urge the noble Lord to withdraw it.