Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Thursday, October 31, 2024

Official Report 1154KB pdf

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Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

The next item of business is consideration of motion S6M-15088, in the name of Fiona Hyslop, which is a legislative consent motion on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that all relevant provisions of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 18 July 2024, so far as these matters alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament.—[Fiona Hyslop]

16:59  

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill would remove the presumption in favour of franchised passenger railway services being provided by the private sector and would instead allow train operations to be provided by a public sector company when existing franchise contracts end.

Clause 1 would prohibit the Secretary of State for Transport or the Scottish ministers from extending existing rail franchises or entering into new franchise agreements, apart from in specific limited circumstances. It would also remove the presumption in favour of franchised railway passenger services being provided by a private operator. Instead, these will be provided by a public sector company, under a public sector contract.

Clause 2 would place a duty on the relevant franchising authority to provide or secure passenger rail services by giving a direct award to a public sector company. The secretary of state would also have the power to extend existing franchises or to agree new franchises with the same private sector operator as currently operates the service.

Clause 3 would give the secretary of state the regulation-making powers to make consequential amendments, including to primary legislation.

Ultimately, the aim of the bill is to bring all rail franchises into public hands—

Hear, hear.

—and that is something that my party cannot support.

On 17 July 2024, the shadow transport secretary, Helen Whately, described nationalisation as

“a move that can only be based in ideology”,

and said—[Interruption.]

Let us hear Ms Webber.

She said that

“Nationalising well-run operators won’t bring fares down or make services more reliable”.

Furthermore, Rail Partners, which represents the interests of private sector train and freight operators, has argued that

“full nationalisation is a political not a practical solution, which will increase costs over time”.

Ms Webber seems to be arguing that nationalisation is ideological, and therefore a bad thing. Surely privatisation was the ideological choice that was made in the first place.

My party believes that the bill would have a detrimental effect on Scottish travellers who rely on key cross-border services such as Avanti West Coast. It would also limit competition. Cut-price rail providers such as Lumo, which planned, over the summer, to provide an increased east coast mainline service from Edinburgh Waverley to London King’s Cross, and which also hopes to expand through to the west in Glasgow, could be prevented from providing such a service once the franchise ends.

Finally, and more importantly, the legislation would tie the hands of Scottish ministers and compel them to keep ScotRail and the Caledonian sleeper in public ownership.

17:02  

The Scottish Government’s policy aims and objectives are for a fully publicly owned railway to deliver for the people of Scotland and to achieve our vision of a reliable, resilient, affordable and accessible railway. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill aligns with our policy aims, which is why we support the legislative consent motion and recommend that the Scottish Parliament supports it.

Since ScotRail and the Caledonian sleeper moved into public sector control through operator-of-last-resort arrangements, we have seen continuous improvements as a result. ScotRail has added more than 200 additional services each weekday, offering 7 per cent more seats, and passenger numbers have increased by 75 per cent, from 46.7 million in 2021-22 to around 82 million in 2023-24. On average, ScotRail remains one of the highest-scoring operators in terms of overall passenger satisfaction. It is fully appreciated that the past few months have seen a dip in comparison with the preceding period, which coincided with a reduced service as a result of a temporary timetable.

The changes that the bill will make to the current railways legislation will allow rail passenger services to be delivered by a public sector company as the first-choice option, rather than as a last resort under a franchising model that the Scottish Government has regularly criticised. That will enable current public sector delivery arrangements to be made permanent, providing a stable framework from which we can continue to provide those services.

We are not in favour of returning to the failed Tory franchise system, but any concern that the bill removes the power of any future Scottish Government that may wish to reintroduce the franchise model—a failed model—is incorrect. The Scottish Parliament cannot currently make provision regarding the manner in which rail passenger services are provided; that is a reserved matter, and nothing in the United Kingdom bill will change that. Therefore, it is only through full devolution of rail that any future Scottish Government would truly be able to decide the preferred method of rail service delivery, whether that be publicly or privately operated.

That is one of the reasons why full devolution of rail has been a long-standing objective of Scottish ministers and it is a reason why all members should support that position in consideration of the future UK Great British railways bill. Any future changes to the railways legislation that would impact on devolved powers would also be subject to the convention that the UK Government will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the Scottish Parliament’s consent, which would be sought through a further legislative consent memorandum process, as appropriate.

Therefore, to ensure that we have a publicly owned and publicly run rail system in Scotland, I recommend that the Parliament votes to support the legislative consent motion for the UK Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.

The question on the motion will be put at decision time.