Railways Act 1993

22 (1) In Schedule 3 to that Act, in paragraph 5 (Secretary of State to provide the committee with funds with which to meet certain expenses) after sub-paragraph (2) there shall be added—

“(3) The Committee shall prepare and send to the Secretary of State not less than two months, or such other period as the Secretary of State may specify, before the beginning of each financial year a statement of the expenses which they expect to incur in respect of that year for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on of their functions.

(4) The Secretary of State shall consider any statement sent to him under sub-paragraph (3) above and shall either approve the statement or approve it with such modifications as he considers appropriate.”

(2) In paragraph 9 of that Schedule, at the end of sub-paragraph (3) (which requires minutes to be kept of the proceedings of every meeting of the committee) there shall be added the words “; and copies of those minutes shall be sent to the Secretary of State, the Rail Regulator and the Central Rail Users' Consultative Committee.”

(3) In sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph (power of committee to determine own procedure) after the words “Subject to the preceding provisions of this paragraph” there shall be inserted the words “and the provisions of paragraph 11A below” and after paragraph 11 of that Schedule there shall be inserted—

“Admission of public to meetings

11A (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, meetings of the Committee shall be open to the public.

(2) The public shall be excluded during any item of business where—

(a) it is likely, were members of the public to be present during that item, that information furnished in confidence to the Committee by the Rail Regulator or the Franchising Director would be disclosed in breach of the obligation of confidence;

(b) the Committee have resolved that, by reason of the confidential nature of the item or for other special reasons stated in the resolution, it is desirable in the public interest that the public be excluded; or

(c) it is likely, were members of the public to be present during that item, that there would be disclosed to them—

(i) any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, or

(ii) any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate,

where public disclosure of that matter would or might, in the opinion of the committee, seriously and prejudicially affect the interests of that individual or body.

(3) The Committee shall give such notice—

(a) of any meeting of the Committee which is open to the public, and

(b) of the business to be taken at that meeting (other than items during which the public is to be excluded),

as they consider appropriate for the purpose of bringing the meeting to the attention of interested members of the public.”.