3rd January 2024

The story so far.

July 2022 after an 18 month period, the previous incumbents of the APPLRG Secretariat failed to produce the fantastic funding and results promised to Mr Andy Carter MP Conservative at the previous AGM and took over the PG.

August (Recess) that year was slow as we started to put together a new PG whilst still retaining a number of long standing and original members. but eventually  had enough support to hold an Inaugural AGM, January 2023 in Portcullis House.

We were quorate and Ms. Christine Jardine MP, LibDem agreed to Chair (Reporting Member RM) the re-constituted PG with officers etc, appointed.

Unfortunately in the interim, there had been a few minor but important changes which were unknown to our consulting former MP and came to light when we went to register (Feb 2023) the PG with the Standards Office - we did not have a Member of the Government physically at the AGM so we were not able to complete and be registered, so a new Inagural AGM had to be called

As a result of restructuring within the Nation LibDem Party a significant amount of additional work landed on Ms. Christine Jardine MP's desk, she was unable   to continue as our Reporting Member and had to resign. I would at this point, thank Ms. Christine jardine MP LibDem for her short period of support.

In the meantime, new rules were introduced by email as follows,

Dear Chair,

All-Party Parliamentary Group for 12 Step Recovery

1. Message from Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, acting Chair of the Committee on Standards On Tuesday 12 September,

I chaired the Committee on Standards as acting Chair and we agreed revised transitional arrangements for the new APPG rules, following strong representations from senior Members of the House signalling concerns about the proposals that were approved in July. The House authorised the Committee to agree transitional arrangements when it approved the new rules. When the Standards Committee meets again under its new elected Chair in October, there will be further discussion about these new rules.

The attached note from the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests explains how the transitional arrangements will work. The rules prohibiting foreign governments from providing or funding (whether directly or indirectly) a secretariat will still come into force with immediate effect on 16 October 2023. This reflects concerns raised by the Parliament’s Director of Security.

During the transition period to 31 March 2024, APPGs should try to meet the requirement for 4 officers and no more, as this will become mandatory on 31 March 2024. APPGs are not expected to comply with any other new rules until 31 March 2024; except that the rule providing that a Member of the House of Commons may be an Officer of a maximum of six Groups shall apply from the start of the next parliament (the ‘six groups rule’). 2. Note from the Registry Office on the transitional arrangements for the introduction of the new APPG Rules On Tuesday 12 September, the Committee on Standards agreed the following revised transitional arrangements for the new APPGs: #

Transitional Arrangements

(1) The rules prohibiting foreign governments from providing or funding (whether directly or indirectly) a secretariat come into force with immediate effect on 16 October 2023.

(2) APPGs need to comply with any other new rules from 31 March 2024; except that the rule providing that a Member of the House of Commons may be an Officer of a maximum of six Groups shall only apply from the start of the next parliament.

(3) APPGs will be able to hold EGMs virtually or by correspondence during a transition period (to meet the requirement for 4 officers and no more) ending on 31 March 2024.

(4) An audit of compliance will be carried out in April 2024. Any APPG that has not complied with the Rules by 31 March 2024 will be deregistered. The transitional arrangements provide APPGs with the opportunity to make arrangements to comply with the rules by 31 March 2024 and to use the provisions to allow EGMs to be held virtually or by correspondence to meet the requirement for 4 officers and no more.

The new Rules and Guide to the Rules can be accessed here. As the transitional arrangements make clear, any group that has not complied with the new rules by 31 March 2023 will be deregistered.

Below is a timetable for the transitional arrangements for the key new rules coming into effect. Secretariats From 16 October 2023:

No APPG can have a secretariat that is provided by or funded by a foreign government. (See page 11 of the new Guide to the Rules.) The Chair or an Officer of an APPG must undertake due diligence as to whether a foreign government is the eventual funder of a secretariat or other benefit. Guidance on due diligence will be sent to Chairs of APPGs. Officers

From 31 March 2024: APPGs must have four officers and no more. The Chair is one of the four officers. (See page 15 of the new Guide to the Rules.)

The four Officers are the only formal post holders in an APPG and are elected at either an AGM or an EGM.

Members of an APPG may hold informal positions but they are not officers of the group.

Informal positions cannot be included in the Group’s APPG Register entry. From the start of the next parliament:

A Member may be an officer of a maximum of 6 APPGs. (See page 15 of the new Guide to the Rules.) Members are responsible for keeping track of which APPGs they are an Officer of. Membership From 31 March 2024:

An APPG must have at least 20 members of either House (This includes the four officers of the group).

Each APPG is responsible for maintaining its membership list.(See page 15 of the new Guide to the Rules.)

AGMs/EGMs From 31 March 2024: All APPGs will be required to approve at their AGM an income and expenditure statement, even if it is a “nil return”. (See page 22 of the new Guide to the Rules.)

From 31 March 2024: The following requirements will apply to APPGs that have received over £1,500 in the calendar year: •

An external chair, appointed by the Speaker, to preside over AGMs and EGMs. • A quorum of 8 parliamentarians • The publication and approval of an Annual Report setting out the work of the APPG •

The publication and approval of a due diligence statement.

The quorum for other formal meetings remains 5 parliamentarians (See pages 22 and 23 of the new Guide to the Rules.)

Due diligence on benefits From 31 March 2024:

The Chair or an Officer of an APPG must undertake due diligence to ascertain whether the ultimate funder of any benefit – secretariat services or otherwise – is a foreign government. If it is, and the value of the benefit meets the threshold for registration, the benefit will need to be registered in the normal way as having been received from the foreign government. (See page 11 of the new Guide to the Rules.)

Should you need further advice, you can contact

The Registry Office Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standard,

 Should you need further advice, you can contact

Registrar (James Davies) or the Deputy Registrar for APPGs (Philippa Wainwright)

via groupsregister@parliament.uk or on 020 7219 3277 or 0401.

We have as an interim, re organised as a informal Light Rail Group (Parliamentary) and continued to keep our informal individual Parliamentarians on matters relating to Light Rail, Tramways, Very Light Rail and Transport Pollution either directly or through this website.

In the meantime we will continue with our search for a Reporting Member as we are now moving into a stronger position environmental, trams being the major clean air tool in our National Clean Air campaign.

Can your Constituency benefit from the following?

For public transport to become a force in dealing with urban congestion, carbon reduction, improving air quality and to be an attractive alternative to the car, it must be built quickly and operate affordably.

Some benefits:

• Light rail systems have proven track record, Growing the public transport market, Creating modal shift in some cases 32%,
• Supporting regeneration , renewal and inward regeneration, Assisting in the creation off a new urban framework,
• An extremely green mode of transport, Will drastically reduce the nations carbon footprint,
• Pollution free at the point of use, No road, tyre, brake dust, the only genuine emission free public transport, No Greenwashing!
• Can be used to re-engineer city districts

 Parliamentarians from all Houses, we need you too! 

​Any Volunteers???

Yours aye,

James Harkins FCILT MTPS

Light Rail UK (Group)

24 July 2022

WE ARE BACK! or so we thought!

Last week Mr Andy Carter MP Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group, currently de-registered, appointed Light Rail UK Group to take over the Secretariat after the previous incumbents .

Our next step is to hold an AGM in September 2022 when Parliament reconvenes

Since we have been away as Secretariat, there has been significant advances in the Tram Industry especially in the emerging Very Light Rail sector, more detaisl can be found in Industry/BCIMO

We had started a series of pre-feasibility studies for our MP members constituencies which will now be restarted in line with the new technology and the greater awareness of Climate Change

We have a number imformational visits scheduled during the coming year which I will be writing individually to

If you, as our Industry supporters wish to be involved, dont hesitate to contact me or any member of my team which now numbers 6

More details will be available as they happen.

June 2022

This is a new, repurposed, and updated version of the former All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group which Light Rail (UK) Ltd held and funded the Secretariat from its inauguration in 2005 until May 2021 and handed over the Secretariat to Downtown in Business, Mr Simon Danzcuk, former Labour MP for Rochdale to take the APPLRG on a different path from that successful model before.

James Harkins FCILT, MTPS has been retained as a Technical Advisor to the APPLRG.

We will as part of our policy be supportive of all Parliamentary Groups within the UK in our fight for the nation to share the wide range of benefits of this mode in all its variants.

The contents of the previous APPLRG (2006 - 2020) has been gifted to the archive section of the National Tramway Museum Society as a record of this time of tram and light rail history for the benefit of those who follow who will without doubt judge on our success or failure especially with regards to Climate Change.

Light Rail UK Ltd was established in 2005 as campaigning organisation to support sustainable Public Transport, predominately steel on steel street running technologies and fills the gap between Government and Industry funded organisations. A grouping consortium of experts who give “Pro Bono” freely of their time and expertise for the greater good and for those who follow.

Today, Light Rail UK Ltd operates as an independent, not-for-profit consultancy specialising in the delivery of green projects, supporting innovation and market development, focused on low cost Light Rail, Trams, VLR/ULR (3rd Generation Tramways) and associated energy infrastructure.

We highly value our independence as it allows us to provide impartial advice and helps us build trust with our colleagues, friends, and customers.

Being a not-for-profit, Light Rail UK Ltd isn’t driven by doing the work which pays the most or builds our order book, but by what is right for our clients and for the industry.

This is reflected in everything we do, from the work we do and the advice we give, even to the prices we charge. Our major concern is the green wash be pedalled by so called including Government experts who claim that rubber wheeled vehicles are zero emission, they are not as long as they are producing pm 10pm & 2.5pm and fine black carbon soot particulates

Finally, as consultants, our aim is to be trusted advisors with expert knowledge – the ‘go-to’ source of help and support for public and private sector organisations. We want to be people you can trust to help where and when it is most needed as our customers progress along their journey to a zero carbon future.

Light Rail UK Group will hold regular sessions in order to provide a holistic package of policy proposals that will drive forward best practice including supportive modes, leading to affordable light rail & tramways with resultant physical and economic regeneration, carbon reduction, improved air quality, congestion relief, affordable and sustainable transport. to the  benefit of the UK and its' citizens.

Technical support is provided by James Harkins FCILT MTPS, Light Rail (UK) Ltd, Associates and Partners and various supporting organisations and individuals.

If you wish to sponsor a page, please contact jimh@jimmyharkins.com for further detail

Light Rail (UK) Ltd and partners provides low cost, high quality, affordable consultancy to Government and Local Authorities to enhance their growing awareness of the advantages of Light Rail and Tram systems especially for small cities, towns, and conurbations.

Our TramTracker 2 contains 80+ cities and towns that would be able to support and sustain a modern tram system (Password access only)