Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his letter to the Permanent Secretary of his Department of 20 March 2020 on urgent expenditure during the covid-19 outbreak, if he will publish the reasons given by his Department’s Investment and Portfolio Committee for recommending Emergency Measures Agreements rather than extending the Operator of Last resort to maintain rail services during Covid-19.

The Department’s Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee considered the options to maintain services, including extending the Operator of Last Resort. Ministers agreed with the committee’s recommendation to offer Emergency Measures Agreements to franchised train operators. Advice to Ministers is not normally published.