Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Rail and Road in (a) monitoring and (b) regulating the performance of Network Rail in (i) 2017 and (ii) 2018.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is independent of government and accountable directly to Parliament. Within this framework, Ministers and senior officials of the Department for Transport meet with ORR’s Chair and Chief Executive regularly to discuss the measures ORR is taking to monitor and regulate the performance of Network Rail, including the Network Rail Monitor, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the company’s performance.