Keir Mather MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 Feb 2026 · Rail Fare Affordability · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is right to point to the fact that our railways need to serve as a catalyst for young people to access the educational opportunities they need. I have already explained that we are freezing regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which we hope will have a benefit for constituents across the area that she represents. Ultimately, the only way that we can get fares down in the long term is to have a railway with a single guiding mind and a single point of accountability, and that is through Great British Railways.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Railways Bill (Fourteenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western, in what could well be our final session, unfortunately, on this big and beautiful Bill, as somebody across the pond might say. I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham for new clause 31. The previous Government introduced minimum service levels legislation akin to that proposed in the new clause, which this Government repealed under the Employment Rights Act 2025 as it did not support a positive and productive relationship between employers, employees and their trade unions. Indeed, it served only to exacerbate the national rail disputes under the previous Government, who saw two years of widespread strikes and disruption to millions of passengers. The previous Government’s inability to solve the industrial dispute is estimated to have cost £850 million in lost revenue—a debilitating amount for industry and the taxpayer. In agreeing pay deals last year, we have more than halved the proportion of rail services lost due to cancellations and national strikes since the height of industrial action under the previous Government, and we have begun the critical job of making the railway work for the passenger once again. Further, although many rail employers had the opportunity to use minimum service levels regulations, none chose to do so as they deemed them either unworkable or unnecessary. For those reasons, we do not agree with the principle behind the new clause, and I therefore urge the hon. Gentleman to withdraw it. On new clause 32, the hon. Gentleman’s proposed working practices and productivity modernisation framework under Great British Railways covers various areas, with the aspiration, which the Government share, of delivering a modernised railway that fully meets the needs of passengers. I am grateful to him for his considered suggestions for a framework. It covers some matters that we are already taking steps to address, such as the extension of rest day working agreements to improve the reliability of train services seven days a week. As I confirmed to the hon. Gentleman last week, some train operators already have Sunday in their working week, and we are very serious about improving performance everywhere. We want a railway that works on all seven days of the week, which is why we have instructed train operators to set out detailed resourcing plans, including on recruiting sufficient drivers and crew. However, the suggested framework also proposes some changes that could breach an individual’s contractual terms and conditions of employment. Such matters are for the employer and the employees, through their trade unions, to negotiate under collective bargaining agreements. They need to be negotiated and updated as part of staff contracts, and that is not appropriate for legislation. Let me address some of the hon. Gentleman’s other points. On the proposal to require GBR to establish a train driving school with streamlined training methods to increase driver availability, I assure him that steps have already been taken to address the driver shortage. In May 2025, we announced a reduction in the minimum age to become a train driver from 20 to 18 to allow train operating companies and, in future, Great British Railways to create career pathways for school leavers and broaden the pool of people they can recruit from to address shortages. On training in general and the need for training to reduce unnecessary delays in deploying rolling stock and other areas, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that comprehensive and targeted training is essential to the proper running of the railway. GBR will implement best practice across the railway to ensure its staff have everything they need to succeed. I also thank the hon. Gentleman for his desire to end short-notice holiday approval, the dependency on overtime to compensate for sickness absence or annual leave and the prohibition on driving more than one journey over the same rails. As I have said, we want a railway that works seven days a week. It is our view that the privatised railway caused this issue, with a fragmented set of employee terms and conditions that has resulted in differing approaches to the workforce. In bringing together train operators, GBR can start to tackle some of those issues, which are rooted in the privatised system. However, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman will agree, that must not come at the expense of safety or workers’ rights. On the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion that the Secretary of State should be prevented from awarding general pay rises to workers when train performance has fallen, may I suggest that performance is something that GBR can improve in a lot of ways, including by bringing track and train together and by sensibly co-ordinating the timetable? Those are both lacking today and create many performance problems.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Aviation · Hansard source

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  I applaud my hon. Friend’s ambition to train the next generation of aviators. Government changes to the apprenticeship regulations now mean that aviation employers have greater flexibility, which recently enabled the launch of the Tui cabin crew apprenticeship, with more under development. Through our aviation industry skills board, the Department for Transport works with industry and across Government to address barriers to access. We also fund the Civil Aviation Authority’s outreach programme to attract the next generation into aviation careers. I reassure my hon. Friend that making sure more young people have access to careers that they are passionate about is a subject in which I have a keen personal interest.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Draft Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2025 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, and to discuss the draft regulations, which were laid before the House on 16 July—my first statutory instrument in my new role. I look forward to many exchanges with the hon. Members for Mid Buckinghamshire and for Wimbledon in rooms like this. Let us hope that they are all on as sunny a morning as this one. UK airspace and airlines are among the safest in the world. Even with that success, we are not complacent: the Government are committed to maintaining and improving the high safety standards in aviation. The UK is committed to ensuring that technical requirements remain up to date and in line with international standards and best practice. The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for developing and advising the Government on amendments to the technical requirements and regulations. This statutory instrument has four objectives, three of which relate to the continuing airworthiness regulation, which ensures that the maintenance and repair of aircraft is conducted safely. First, the instrument will make amendments to the continuing airworthiness regulation regarding the release of aircraft parts into service. Currently, for all components added to an aircraft, the maintenance organisation is required to issue a form 1, which certifies that the parts are safe to be released to service—a long and technically complex process. The instrument will allow approved design organisations to release components for service by making a less onerous declaration of maintenance; this declaration can be used only for parts that have a negligible impact on the safety of the aircraft, such as a pilot’s document holder. These amendments will complete the introduction of a policy that was introduced by the Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2023 to the initial airworthiness regulation, and will help to reduce the burden on maintenance organisations. Secondly, the instrument will rationalise parts of the continuing airworthiness regulation by combining similar requirements in one location, making the regulations easier to follow. The instrument will also reintroduce an amendment regarding qualification requirements for maintenance staff that was erroneously omitted. Thirdly, the instrument will rationalise and correct references and errors in the continuing airworthiness regulation arising from the Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the 2023 regulations and the Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2024. Lastly, the instrument will amend articles 62 and 69 of the basic regulation. Under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, the CAA has always had the ability to delegate its functions or tasks to third parties, known as qualified entities. A similar power existed under a previous version of the basic regulation and was used when the CAA considered that the relevant skills sat outside the CAA—for example to delegate to the Office for Nuclear Regulation the authorisation of the carriage of dangerous goods such as radioactive materials—or when a third party was better placed to assess an issue than the CAA or able to better protect the public. For example, the meteorological obligations resting with the CAA are delegated to the UK Met Office. However, following changes to the 2018 basic regulation, those delegation powers could no longer be used by the CAA for aviation safety tasks. The instrument will amend articles 62 and 69 of the basic regulation in a way that reactivates the CAA’s power to delegate aviation safety tasks. The CAA intends to use these powers to delegate to qualified third parties the training and examination of drone pilots, as well as the assessment of drones’ flightworthiness. This is similar to the CAA’s approach to pilot training for fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft. By delegating those powers, the CAA will be able to support the sector to develop and grow new technologies more quickly, supporting growth and innovation. We must continue to ensure that aviation remains among the safest forms of travel, as the safety of aviation and the travelling public is a high priority for this Government. The draft regulations represent a further step in ensuring that that remains the case. I commend them to the Committee.