Bye Bye railway heritage committee

[craigwelsh]

Also in amongst the great UK Government Quango Fire Sale is the BRB (Residuary) Board which is to have what few assets it still possesses (no idea what they are though!) sold off and the last remains of British Railways then will disappear forever.

 

To my mind, the loss of the Railway Heritage Committee is a very serious concern.

BRB holds lots of structures, a bit of land and Waterloo station, see http://www.brbr.co.uk/structures

 

Could scupper a couple of reopening possibilities if the govt is in a hurry to wind it up and quickly disposes of some structures..

 

The Railway Heritage Committee is less useful than the authority for someone to retain certain artifacts, if the govt can get another dept to have the responsibility there will not really be any great loss.

[Edwin_m]

Looking at that website it seems nearly all of their land holdings have been sold, and those that aren't are probably ones that have a potential use as a re-opening. No doubt they'd sell the structures too if anybody wanted them.

[Ron Ron Ron]

DRS would have been affected if their owners, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority had been merged or replaced by another body or government department. OK for now.

 

Does the sale of BRB (residuary) assets mean remaining disused lines will be sold off?

[DJH584]

Does the sale of BRB (residuary) assets mean remaining disused lines will be sold off?

 

Having had a quick look through this list http://www.brbr.co.u...operty_listings there are a number of closed lines for sale.

 

Are you thinking of buying one?

 

David

[Ohmisterporter]

I don't know if this has been mentioned or if the government is looking at it but I expect the re-introduction of admission fees for the big national museums is on the cards. IIRC the NRM was opposed to their scrapping in the first place; museums having to raise money by every means possible were seen as a bit 'sharper' than those with a handout from central government.

 

Geoff.

[AMJ]

There was a comment that "why should this be the only transport industry" with such a body - reason why it was scrapped.

 

We are very lucky that there are many grant aid bodies that you can apply to for funding.

 

Let's hope that there are more people visiting our lines in the UK so that the recession does not have a knock on such that some of the lines end up in financial difficulties.

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

Statutory powers are very different to a statutory body. Most of these were set up, not under an Act of Parliament but under the newer regulatory environment.

 

As I understand it, and I freely admit that I don't really, the Governemnt of the day decides in committee that certain powers are a Good Thing so drafts a regulation to cover it. Because it has been decided in an all party committee it is put through on the nod as it were and a budget set for setting up a body to oversee that regulation. Any transgressions are dealt with by way of fines and sanctions like withdrawal of licence etc.

 

A lot of these bodies are Quangos and there operating costs are supposedly considerably less. The power they have can be re-deployed at a Government whim. I am unsure as to whether these bodies are actually capable of prosecuting legally and this will still be the province of the CPS.

 

I suppose that Heritage Railways have been consulted about these regulations to ensure that they are aware of them and, in essence, agree with them.

 

Self regulation as opposed to sudden death by decapitation in a court of law. I believe that these regulations are capable of evolution in the light of experience and change where needed and agreed unlike an Act of Parliament.

 

I suppose the best example I can use is the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which is an act of Parliament as opposed to the FSA which merely oversees and disciplines the financial services industry.

 

I think the FSA has been disbanded and the industry is going to be self regulated under the residual powers. This has happened in the energy industry.

[Fenman]

I expect the re-introduction of admission fees for the big national museums is on the cards.

 

Turns out the opposite has happened -- government grants are dependent on the retention of free admission.

 

Or, rather, continuing with the current partial free admission: I don't understand why people visiting the Tates in London get in free, but people visiting Tate St Ives have to pay.

 

I'm a bit sceptical about the whole policy anyway. It's supposed to be good for tourism, but I don't think I've ever sat down and thought, "well, I was toying with going to France this year, but their museums are Euro2 per person more expensive than Italy's, so I think I'll go to Naples...".

 

Why not charge proper entrance and then give a card giving free admission for a year -- come back as often as you want. Places like Blenheim Palace seem to make that work, so I don't see why the museums can't. That way tourists pay towards the things they've come to see, and locals and residents get in as often as they please. Make everyone under 18 free, so families aren't penalised.

 

Although why going to see paintings in the national collection should be free, while going to see films in the national collection should always be charged for, defies any logic I can see, other than "it's always been like that".

 

Paul

[Kris]

I do appreciate the museums that are free. If they weren't I would be less likely to visit and then spend cash in the museum.

[Guest stuartp]

The power they have can be re-deployed at a Government whim. I am unsure as to whether these bodies are actually capable of prosecuting legally and this will still be the province of the CPS.

 

ORR (the ex-HMRI bits) and HSE certainly have powers to bring criminal prosecution potentially involving jail as well as fines without having to go through CPS. It depends on whether the enabling Act grants them the powers or not.

 

Regulations are usually (always ?) made under an enabling Act rather than being freestanding legislation. For example, the various health and safety Regulations are usually made under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, which is the enabling Act - there's a clause in the Act giving the relevant Secretary of State the authority to make Regulations as he sees fit. Similarly, a lot of railway legislation are Regulations made under the various Railways Acts.