Railways Bill (Second sitting)

Debate between Rebecca Smith and Jayne Kirkham

Committee stage
Tuesday 20th January 2026 Public Bill Committees

[Jayne Kirkham]

Oh, there is a fraught question. I think anyone in the rest of the country who you ask will be having issues about devolution.

Tracy Brabin: Fair enough. But it is about that oversight of the buses feeding the train timetable.

[Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)]

Q I was going to ask more about devolution. I will just make the point that I was going to make, and then I will ask you a very quick question.

The application of the term “devolution and local leadership” to this Bill is quite distracting, because ultimately, unless you are a mayoral combined authority, you do not get any of these powers. I think that was what Jayne was alluding to. To my mind, GBR is an increasingly two-tier system: you have the devolved local authorities and everywhere else. I am concerned about what that is going to mean for accountability to local areas. That was more of a statement than a question—apologies.

You keep saying that you want a meaningful relationship with GBR. The question that has kept coming to my mind is: what does “meaningful” actually look like? Can you unpack what you mean by “meaningful”?

Andy Burnham: On your statement, I think we have to get our heads in the space of an all-devolved England. I know it can be difficult, but sometimes people have to see the bigger picture of the area where people live and travel. People go across those borders every day; they do not think about borders as much as politicians.