Railways Act 1993 (Determination of Turnover) Order 2005

We are also content with the determination of turnover order. When I looked to see what the Standing Committee said, I was interested by a typo in the report of its proceedings, as it calls the order:"““Draft Railways Act 1993 (Determination of Takeover) Order 2005””.—[Official Report, Commons Sixteenth Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation, 14/7/05; col. 3.]" That may not be a Freudian slip, but it is decidedly Byers-esque. The formula explained by the Minister seems reasonable and adds protection to the rail operator by limiting the penalty period to two years’ turnover. It can be described simply as railway business activity minus discounts, VAT and taxes, plus grants, subsidies and some other income. It sounds fairly straightforward, but it will be interesting to know what creative accountants can do with it in future. I can see that the varied nature of the franchisees—from some that make substantial losses and need subsidy to those such as GNER that pay a substantial premium to the Treasury for the privilege of running an admittedly successful railway—explains why it is turnover rather than profitability that is assessed. Presumably the Scottish Ministers could pursue only the holder of the Scotrail franchise—First Scotrail—and not the cross-border services, such as the two Virgin franchises and GNER, as the cross-border services are reserved to the DfT. I believe that the penalty procedures have been invoked only three times so far. Can the Minister tell us of those circumstances? Does that include the removal of the franchise from Connex on the Brighton main line? Finally, can he tell us exactly how the penalty tribunal is constituted?