§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has received from the Chief Inspector of Railways on the effectiveness of the railway safety regime in place since rail privatisation; and if he will list the relevant papers and place copies in the Library. [99313]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 23 November 1999]: The Health and Safety Commission, together with the Health and Safety Executive (of which the Railway Inspectorate forms a part) is the sole rail safety regulator and advises my right hon. Friend on rail safety.
Soon after the election, we made it clear that the HSC should bring forward whatever regulations they considered necessary to improve rail safety. Following public consultation, they recommended regulations to bring forward the elimination of slam-door rolling stock and install train protection systems across the network, which following signature by my right hon. Friend, were laid before Parliament in August this year.
In October this year the HSC sent my right hon. Friend interim advice on Railtrack's Safety and Standards Directorate.
Advice on the effectiveness of the railway safety regime is also included in the Chief Inspector of Railways' Annual Report on Railway Safety, and his provisional annual safety statistics.
All these documents are available in the Library.