We are accountable to the House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee and the courts for our role as an independent health and safety and economic regulator of the railways and in our role holding National Highways to account. 

Our parliamentary accountability manifests itself practically in several ways, including the appointment of our Chair being subject to scrutiny by the Transport Select Committee and senior officials regularly contributing to parliamentary committee inquiries. 

This year we have contributed to the parliamentary process at Westminster by submitting evidence to the Transport Select Committee inquiries on Strategic Road Investment and Accessible Transport: Legal Obligations. 

We offer expert and impartial information and advice to governments and parliamentarians, including members of the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments, to inform their scrutiny of rail and road issues. This year we have briefed staff from the House of Commons Library, European Scrutiny Committee, European Affairs Unit, and the House of Lords Built Environment Committee. In addition, we have met with staff from the Transport Select Committee, the research and information service based in Parliament to assist MPs and their staff, on several occasions.

We also provide independent assessment of delivery across key transport strands. We actively engage with parliamentarians on issues which are of interest to them and their constituents, through briefings, correspondence, and proactive engagement. In 2022-23 we focused our activity primarily on one-to-one engagements, meeting with a number of MPs, MSPs and Peers from across the political spectrum. We also convened two parliamentary briefing events on rail reform and the rail industry finance statistics. Across both events, we welcomed 51 parliamentarians and parliamentary representatives.