Railways Act 2005

Transfer etc. of functions relating to enforcement

21 (1) Section 55 of the 1993 Act (orders for securing compliance) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsections (1), (2) and (4), for “(5B)”, in each place, substitute “(5C)”.

(3) In subsection (5), omit “or, as the case may be, section 207 of the Transport Act 2000”.

(4) In subsection (5ZA)—

(a) for “The Authority shall not” substitute “Neither the Secretary of State nor the Scottish Ministers shall”;

(b) in paragraph (a), for “it has” and “the Authority” substitute, respectively “the Secretary of State has or (as the case may be) those Ministers have” and “him or them”; and

(c) in paragraph (c), for “the Authority” substitute “the Secretary of State or (as the case may be) the Scottish Ministers”.

(5) After subsection (5B) insert—

“(5C) Neither the Secretary of State nor the Scottish Ministers shall be required, in respect of any contravention or apprehended contravention of the terms of a franchise agreement, to make a final order, or to make or to confirm a provisional order, if he considers or (as the case may be) they consider—

(a) that the contravention or apprehended contravention is trivial; and

(b) that it would be inappropriate, for that reason, to make or to confirm the order.

(5D) The appropriate authority must comply with subsection (6)—

(a) in a case where the appropriate authority is the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers, if that authority decides not to make a final order, or not to make or to confirm a provisional order, because of provision contained in subsection (5) or (5ZA) above; or

(b) in the case of the Office of Rail Regulation, if it decides not to make a final order, or not to make or to confirm a provisional order, because of provision contained in subsection (5), (5A) or (5B) above.”

(6) In subsection (6) (notice of decisions), for the words from the beginning to the end of paragraph (a) substitute—

“(6) Where the appropriate authority must comply with this subsection, it must—

(a) serve notice of its decision on the relevant operator; and”.

(7) In subsection (7A), for “to the Authority in the event of any specified contravention of the order such” substitute “in the event of a specified contravention of the order—

(a) in the case of an order made by the Scottish Ministers, to them, and

(b) in any other case, to the Secretary of State,

such”.

(8) In subsection (10)—

(a) in paragraph (a) of the definition of “the appropriate authority”, omit “apart from a condition which relates to consumer protection,”;

(b) for paragraph (b) substitute—

“(aa) in relation to any relevant condition or requirement in the case of—

(i) a franchisee under a Scottish franchise agreement,

(ii) a franchise operator in relation to such an agreement, or

(iii) a person under Scottish closure restrictions,

the Scottish Ministers; and

(b) in relation to any relevant condition or requirement in the case of—

(i) a franchisee not falling within paragraph (aa)(i),

(ii) a franchise operator not falling within paragraph (aa)(ii), or

(iii) a person under closure restrictions that are not Scottish closure restrictions,

the Secretary of State;”.