Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential for conflict of interest in relation to the appointment of Stephen Glaister the Chair of Network Rail’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, to conduct an inquiry into the May 2018 timetable implementation.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent regulator for the rail sector. As a public body independent of government, the ORR is answerable to Parliament. It is established by statute, and operates under a legislative framework that assures its independence from both government and the rail companies that it regulates. The government has asked the ORR to conduct the inquiry within this framework, which assures the independence of this work.