§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to direct the Director of Franchising to include specific services within a shadow franchise or, subsequently, franchise contract.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Secretary of State has powers under section 5 of the Railways Act 1993 to give objectives, instructions and guidance to the Franchising Director with respect to the provision of passenger railway services in Great Britain. The Franchising Director is under a duty to exercise his functions under the Act, including those of designating services for franchising and of drawing up the terms of franchise agreements, in a manner which he considers best calculated to fulfil those objectives in accordance with the instructions and guidance.
In the objectives, instructions and guidance he issued on 22 March, the Secretry of State instructed the Franchising Director that, for the initial letting of franchises, his specificaiton of minimum service levels for railway passenger services is to be based on that being provided by BR immediately before franchising, taking into account the existence of, and justification for, seasonal variations in service schedule.