Regulator publishes his three-year programme

30 April 2001
ORR/14/01

The Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, today published a draft operational plan for consultation. The document outlines his programme as one of "maintained and increased vigilance and regulatory scrutiny in relation to Railtrack's stewardship of the network". Following the passing of the Transport Act 2000 the focus of ORR is on regulating monopoly and dominant positions in the industry, especially Railtrack.

Commenting on the Draft Operational Plan for 2001-2004, Tom Winsor said:

"Since my appointment in July 1999 I have adopted a rigorous approach to the regulation of the monopoly and dominant elements of the railway industry, principally Railtrack. The company's performance in the last year, and the effects which that has had not only on its own prospects and standing but the positions of others, has justified that approach. Indeed it makes a strong case for its intensification. This is certainly no time for slackening off.

"My proposed programme for the next year and the two following is one of maintained and increased vigilance and regulatory scrutiny in relation to Railtrack's stewardship of the network. That work is made more efficient and effective by the completion of my programme of increasing the accountability of Railtrack to its customers and to the public interest. That work is largely complete, and I expect the last part will be finished in autumn 2001.

"The regulatory reform programme comprises three main elements: a strengthened network licence, putting right the deficiencies of the original licence in areas such as Railtrack's asset knowledge, network integrity, monitoring of the quality of the work which is being done, dealings with dependent customers and disposal of land; a reformed financial framework, providing Railtrack with a proper system of incentives to improve performance and grow the traffic - passenger and freight - on the network; and, stronger and simpler contracts between Railtrack and its train operator customers in relation to the specification of what Railtrack has to do for the access charges it receives (including capacity allocation and network quality) and what rights and remedies the parties are to have if things go wrong".

The draft operational plan sets out the aims and key objectives for 2001-2004. The draft plan published today encapsulates in an accessible form the relative importance of the different activities that will be encountered during the challenging period ahead, and provides a guide to the key policy divisions and operational directorates handling these tasks. Performance against the 2000-2001 key objectives will be measured in the next ORR Annual Report, which will be published in parallel with the final version of the operational plan 2001-2004, following this consultation.

The operational plan concludes with the budgetary information for the two reporting periods, last year and the current year. Aggregate licence fees will be held at their present levels as there is still much to be done in implementing the reform programme and maintaining Railtrack's accountability for the stewardship of the network. The draft operational plan has been circulated for consultation to a wide range of interested parties, and responses to this consultation process are requested by Friday 25 May 2001.

Notes for editors:

1. An independent review into the efficiency of the utility regulators published by the Treasury on 19 February 2001stressed the importance of operational plans. The draft plan published today is ORR's second. (External Efficiency Review of Utility Regulators is available from the Treasury website: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.)
2. A copy of the document Draft Operational Plan 2001-2004 is available from the ORR Librarian, Sue MacSwan, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London EC1N 2TQ, tel: 020 7282 2001, fax: 020 7282 2045, e-mail: rail.library@orr.gsi.gov.uk.

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