Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) monitoring framework; and what guidance he has provided to the ORR as it develops its enforcement plan.

Claire Perry

In terms of rail, Ministers and Department for Transport officials regularly discuss the regulation of Network Rail and the railways with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

In 2015 ORR has carried out consultations on both its railways and Highways Monitoring enforcement policies. DfT responded to both consultations. I understand ORR will publish revised policies in due course.

In relation to monitoring Highways England, the Infrastructure Act 2015 conferred the monitoring function on ORR and Highways England was appointed as a Strategic Highways Company on 1 April 2015.

The ORR Highways Monitor has been provided with statutory guidance to develop its enforcement plan. This statutory guidance was jointly issued with HM Treasury on 20 March 2015 and can be found on the gov.uk website.