Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish details of the performance terms and conditions applied to train operating companies in receipt of covid-19-related funding to replace lost fare income.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) decision was made in response to a very significant change in the commercial terms of Train Operating Companies (TOCs). In adapting to managing contract with TOCs under these new arrangements my department continues to keep its governance arrangements under close review, and we will communicate any changes (including any arising specifically from the ONS decision) to operators as needed.

All Emergency Measures Agreement (EMAs) have been published in redacted form on the public register of rail franchises on the gov.uk website. The Department is continuing to follow its processes in order to finalise the publication of the ERMAs. Given that a number of third party stakeholders are being consulted on proposed redactions, we cannot provide a definitive timescale for the redacted versions of the ERMAs however we continue to work towards publishing them as soon as reasonably practicable and the Department’s redactions have been completed.