Moved by
Baroness Scott of Needham Market
1: Clause 1, page 1, line 12, at end insert—
“25B Termination of existing franchise agreements
(1) The Secretary of State must terminate franchise agreements for default in accordance with the terms of the agreement as soon as it is possible to do so.
(2) Subject to subsection (1), the Secretary of State must not terminate a franchise agreement pursuant to a break clause unless—
(a) there are no other franchise agreements which are—
(i) terminable for default or may be terminable in the next three months for default, or
(ii) will come to the end of their term within the next three months, and
(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that provision of the services by a public sector company will improve existing service provision.
(3) In this section, “break clause” means a contractual provision in a franchise agreement which entitles the Secretary of State to terminate the franchise agreement before the end of the franchise term by notice without reason.”
Member's explanatory statement
This amendment would require the Secretary of State to nationalise the worst performing operators first while enabling services that are currently working well to continue.