Sugg offers clarification on timetable inquiry panel

Government is “content” that there is no adverse impact on the independence of the Office of Rail and Road’s inquiry into the May 2018 timetable chaos.

Baroness Sugg explained in a Lords Written Reply to Lord Rosser (Labour) on September 19 that one member of the panel of four independent advisers supporting the ORR inquiry is currently a non-executive member of the regulator’s board, and that one member was a previous executive member of the Office of Rail and Road board until 2013.

Sugg said: “No other panel members are or have been a member of a board whose roles are being assessed by the inquiry, and no other companies whose roles will be assessed are represented on the panel.”

She added: “More generally, the 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 it regulates.”

Lord Rosser had asked how many, and what percentage, of the members of the panel investigating the causes of the Thameslink 2018 timetable problems have been or are members of the Board of the Office for Rail and Road, and the boards of other companies or bodies whose roles will be assessed by the panel.