Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of returning the Railway Inspectorate to the Health and Safety Executive.

His Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) was transferred from the Health and Safety Executive to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2006 to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of railway safety regulation. Housing HMRI within ORR allows safety oversight to sit alongside the wider regulatory and economic functions for the rail industry, supporting a more integrated and streamlined approach to enforcing railway safety legislation.

The Government considers the current framework to be effective. As such, no assessment has been made of returning HMRI to the Health and Safety Executive, and there are no plans to do so.