Written question asked by Anne Main (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 March 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 23 March 2012. It was answered by Theresa Villiers (Conservative) on Monday, 26 March 2012 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Office of Rail Regulation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether her Department has carried out a regulatory impact assessment on the proposal in its command paper entitled Reforming the railways: putting the customer first to move responsibility for issues such as monitoring of passenger complaints handling processes to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) and explore the potential to give the ORR a role in relation to train operator performance; and if she will publish the conclusions of any such assessment.

Answer: The Command Paper and the consultation document ““A greater role for ORR regulating passenger franchisees in England & Wales”” set out a number of options for the transfer of responsibilities from the Department for Transport to the Office of Rail Regulation. The Department and the ORR have not carried out an impact assessment at this stage. Once we have considered consultation responses and developed a more definitive package of proposals, we will develop impact assessments for any proposed transfer.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 101937; 542 c950W
Session: 2010-12
Subjects: Complaints Standards Train operating companies Office of Rail Regulation
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk