Written Question: Enforcing GBR's Licence

Lord Moylan: To ask His Majesty's Government what enforcement mechanism will be available to the Office of Rail and Road should Great British Railways breach the new statutory code of practice for ticket retailing anticipated under the Railways Bill.

Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, CBE):

Great British Railways’ (GBR’s) licence will require it to comply with the code of practice, which will be owned and managed by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR).

To ensure that GBR abides by the rules set out in the code of practice, affected third parties will be able challenge any decisions or actions they consider to be noncompliant, by raising them directly with the ORR. The ORR will be required to investigate and, if it considers that GBR has not complied, it will be able to demand corrective action by issuing binding orders on GBR.