To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of the administrative burden placed on receiving parents who are required to contact the Child Maintenance Service to pursue unpaid maintenance; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cases...

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of the administrative burden placed on receiving parents who are required to contact the Child Maintenance Service to pursue unpaid maintenance; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cases...

My Lords, I will speak briefly in support of Amendment 198 in the names of my noble friends Lord Evans and Lord Moylan. It is said that third-class riding is better than first-class walking, but that should not be an excuse for poor service. The four examples in Clause 46(2)...

My Lords, I will speak briefly in support of Amendment 198 in the names of my noble friends Lord Evans and Lord Moylan. It is said that third-class riding is better than first-class walking, but that should not be an excuse for poor service. The four examples in Clause 46(2)...

My Lords, I will speak to four amendments in this group. The first is Amendment 188A in the name of my noble friend Lord Moylan; I can be very brief on this one. It makes the point very clearly that at least some members of the passengers’ council should have...

My Lords, I will speak to four amendments in this group. The first is Amendment 188A in the name of my noble friend Lord Moylan; I can be very brief on this one. It makes the point very clearly that at least some members of the passengers’ council should have...

If the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, were in her place, she would immediately say—and I would agree with her—that one of the problems of removing staff from ticket offices is that any disabled person with a disabled travel card cannot buy their ticket at a machine. Therefore, removing the member...

If the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, were in her place, she would immediately say—and I would agree with her—that one of the problems of removing staff from ticket offices is that any disabled person with a disabled travel card cannot buy their ticket at a machine. Therefore, removing the member...

I take the noble Baroness’s point, but my point was not about removing the ability of staff to sell tickets; it was to enable them to be more flexibly deployed. For example, one of the things that staff would have been able to do is exactly that transaction—but they would...

I take the noble Baroness’s point, but my point was not about removing the ability of staff to sell tickets; it was to enable them to be more flexibly deployed. For example, one of the things that staff would have been able to do is exactly that transaction—but they would...

My Lords, many amendments in this group are trying to tease out the different responsibilities of the ORR versus the Passengers’ Council, and what should sit where. I endorse my noble friend Lady Brinton’s probing amendment, to which I have added my name, which she set out so

clearly and...

My Lords, many amendments in this group are trying to tease out the different responsibilities of the ORR versus the Passengers’ Council, and what should sit where. I endorse my noble friend Lady Brinton’s probing amendment, to which I have added my name, which she set out so

clearly and...

My Lords, these amendments concern the passenger watchdog’s role in setting standards and improving accessibility outcomes for passengers.

I will begin with the notice that the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, intends to oppose Clause 46 standing part of the Bill. As set out in the previous group, the ORR...

My Lords, these amendments concern the passenger watchdog’s role in setting standards and improving accessibility outcomes for passengers.

I will begin with the notice that the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, intends to oppose Clause 46 standing part of the Bill. As set out in the previous group, the ORR...

I really do not follow this argument at all. If DPTAC has two advisory roles, in advising both the Secretary of State and GBR, having an extra advisory role will not in any way stop it having the full range of advisory roles that it has with the Secretary of...

I really do not follow this argument at all. If DPTAC has two advisory roles, in advising both the Secretary of State and GBR, having an extra advisory role will not in any way stop it having the full range of advisory roles that it has with the Secretary of...

I thank the noble Lord for his observations, but his experience highlights exactly why it is perhaps more prudent for DPTAC to be able to advise the Secretary of State: we do not want to put an organisation or advisory group in a position of having a conflict of interest,...

I thank the noble Lord for his observations, but his experience highlights exactly why it is perhaps more prudent for DPTAC to be able to advise the Secretary of State: we do not want to put an organisation or advisory group in a position of having a conflict of interest,...

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this interesting and broad debate. I do not intend to respond at length to the Minister’s remarks; I simply say that many in the Committee will have heard her remarks with a great sense of disappointment. It...

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this interesting and broad debate. I do not intend to respond at length to the Minister’s remarks; I simply say that many in the Committee will have heard her remarks with a great sense of disappointment. It...

Moved by

Baroness Brinton

198A: Clause 46, page 25, line 17, at end insert—

“(e) permanent step-free access to stations, platforms and trains,

(f) accessibility of station entrances, exits, platforms and interchanges,

(g) the carriage of wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters and other mobility aids,

(h) accessibility of rail replacement services and alternative transport,

(i) provision of...

Moved by

Baroness Brinton

198A: Clause 46, page 25, line 17, at end insert—

“(e) permanent step-free access to stations, platforms and trains,

(f) accessibility of station entrances, exits, platforms and interchanges,

(g) the carriage of wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters and other mobility aids,

(h) accessibility of rail replacement services and alternative transport,

(i) provision of...

My Lords, Amendment 198A in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, which I have signed, is the first in this large group of 25 amendments submitted by the noble Baroness, the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, and me, and they often tackle overlapping issues. I do not...

My Lords, Amendment 198A in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, which I have signed, is the first in this large group of 25 amendments submitted by the noble Baroness, the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, and me, and they often tackle overlapping issues. I do not...

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

I also thank the Minister and his officials for the meeting that we had last week—or the week before; I lose track of time with this Bill—and for the conversation in which we established that we would not meet about this specific group but we perhaps will between the end...

I also thank the Minister and his officials for the meeting that we had last week—or the week before; I lose track of time with this Bill—and for the conversation in which we established that we would not meet about this specific group but we perhaps will between the end...

My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 214, 215 and 216 in my name, which are signed by the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton—we will come to them. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, who set out all the issues in this group.

As I said in the previous...

My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 214, 215 and 216 in my name, which are signed by the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton—we will come to them. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, who set out all the issues in this group.

As I said in the previous...

My Lords, the Committee will be pleased to know that I do not intend to speak to all the amendments in the group, although a couple leaped out at me as being worthy of comment.

It is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Holmes, who repeated something he...

My Lords, the Committee will be pleased to know that I do not intend to speak to all the amendments in the group, although a couple leaped out at me as being worthy of comment.

It is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Holmes, who repeated something he...

My Lords, my noble friend Lady Brinton has spoken in great detail and so eloquently about the issues and thinking behind the detailed amendments in this group that I wish only to add my complete support for it. We need our railways to be accessible to, and reliable for, all...

My Lords, my noble friend Lady Brinton has spoken in great detail and so eloquently about the issues and thinking behind the detailed amendments in this group that I wish only to add my complete support for it. We need our railways to be accessible to, and reliable for, all...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to this important debate. Disabled passengers deserve a good, reliable and dignified service from our railways. What we have heard today, and what the evidence shows, is that too often this is simply not the case. The Government’s own accessibility...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to this important debate. Disabled passengers deserve a good, reliable and dignified service from our railways. What we have heard today, and what the evidence shows, is that too often this is simply not the case. The Government’s own accessibility...

My Lords, I am bound to say to start with that those who question the concept of Great British Railways and the reform of the railway have to explain why the previous system has failed so conspicuously to deliver the consistency that all passengers, including disabled passengers, deserve. It is...

My Lords, I am bound to say to start with that those who question the concept of Great British Railways and the reform of the railway have to explain why the previous system has failed so conspicuously to deliver the consistency that all passengers, including disabled passengers, deserve. It is...

Before the Minister concludes— I felt that he was moving towards that—let me say two things.

First, I agree with what many noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord Holmes, have said about the Minister’s excellent track record in this space. Although he is obviously not accepting the amendments, in going...

Before the Minister concludes— I felt that he was moving towards that—let me say two things.

First, I agree with what many noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord Holmes, have said about the Minister’s excellent track record in this space. Although he is obviously not accepting the amendments, in going...