Railway Industry Advisory Committee

HC Deb 11 March 2002 vol 381 cc750-1W

Tom Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his reply of 4 March 2002,Official Report, column 89W, on RIAC membership, (a) by whom and (b) when the review of RIAC was conducted; what conclusions were reached; by whom the role of the RIAC was refocused; and what form the strategic advice to the HSC (i) has taken and (ii) will take. [42178]

Mr. Jamieson

The review of the Railway Industry Advisory Committee (RIAC) was carried out in early 2001 by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), at the request of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), and as part of a general review of their industry advisory committees. Copies of the conclusions of the review and RIAC's revised terms of reference have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

The HSC considered these following publication of part 2 of Lord Cullen's public inquiry report, and implemented a key review conclusion through the replacement of the Chief Inspector of Railways as Chair by an independent member of the HSC (Margaret Burns) in November 2001. RIAC agendas and HSC minutes are available on the HSE website and indicate areas on which RIAC has advised the HSC.