Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential conflict of interest that may arise from the chair of the board of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Stephen Glaister, being appointed as the chair of the independent inquiry into the disruption caused by the changes in rail timetables in May; how the appointment of Mr Glaister to the inquiry relates to the ORR’s (1) responsibility to oversee the effectiveness of rail timetables, and (2) draft determination on Network Rail’s Control Period 6 which endorses the System Operator timetable process model.

The Government does not consider a conflict of interest arises from the role of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in this inquiry, or the role of Professor Glaister, who has a distinguished record in the transport sector. ORR is the independent regulator for the rail sector. As a public body independent of government, the ORR is answerable to Parliament. It is established by statute, and operates under a legislative framework that assures its independence from both government and the rail companies that it regulates. The government has asked the ORR to conduct the inquiry within this framework, which assures the independence of this work.

In undertaking this work, ORR will be supported by an expert panel of independent advisers. This will be one of the means to ensure the ORR’s own role as regulator of Network Rail and the train operating companies has been properly assessed by the Inquiry, notwithstanding its regulatory work in other areas, such as timetabling and the draft determination for Control Period 6.