Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department uses best practice guidance when setting the duration for which consultations are open.

The Department, its executive agencies and arm’s-length bodies publish a large number of consultations and calls for evidence.

The Department conducts consultations in line with the Government Consultation Principles. These state that consultations should last for a proportionate amount of time. The length of any consultation is decided based on legal advice and taking into account the nature and impact of the proposal.

With regard to the current consultations on railway ticket offices, these are industry and not Government proposals. The train companies are consulting on proposals to make changes to ticket offices under the established Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) process.