Editing Network Rail (section)

==Private versus public-sector status==
{{See also|Railtrack}}
In 2001, the Labour government denied that it had nationalised the rail network in order to prevent Railtrack's shareholders claiming, via the European Court of Human Rights, the four-year average price of Railtrack, about £10 per share. Instead, Railtrack's shareholders were given only £2.60.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/30/transport.Whitehall |title=Rail buy-out too costly for government |newspaper=The Guardian |place=London |first=Lucy |last=Ward |date=30 July 2001 |access-date=20 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130825094658/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/30/transport.Whitehall |archive-date=25 August 2013 }}</ref> ''The Times'' reported that Gordon Brown's aide, [[Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera|Shriti Vadera]] e-mailed [[Stephen Byers]] in July 2001 asking: "Can we engineer the solution through insolvency ... and therefore avoid [[Compensation (nationalization)|compensation]] under the [[Human Rights Act 1998|Human Rights Act]]?"<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/railtrack-shares-trial-exposes-ministers-with-a-license-to-steal-x6n3npqtb7h|title=Railtrack shares trial exposes ministers with a license to steal |work=The Times |place=London |first=Simon |last=Jenkins |date=17 July 2005 |access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref>

[[Railtrack]] plc was placed into railway administration under the [[Railways Act 1993]] on 7&nbsp;October 2001, following an application to the [[High Court of Justice of England and Wales|High Court]] by the then [[Secretary of State for Transport|Transport Secretary]], Stephen Byers.<ref>{{cite news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110312220300/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-goes-bankrupt-with-debts-of-acircpound33bn-630604.html |archive-date=12 March 2011 |title=Railtrack goes bankrupt with debts of £3.3bn |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=8 October 2001 |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-goes-bankrupt-with-debts-of-acircpound33bn-630604.html}}</ref> It was reported in November 2001 that a further £3.5&nbsp;billion might be needed to keep the national railway network running, a sum disputed by [[Ernst & Young]], the administrators.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/nov/24/politics.transport |title=Blair told: find £3.5bn or the railways collapse |newspaper=The Guardian |place=London |date=24 November 2001 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170510212153/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/nov/24/politics.transport |archive-date=10 May 2017 }}</ref> To get Railtrack out of administration, the government had to return to the High Court and present evidence that the company was no longer insolvent. The principal reason given by the government to the court for this assertion was the decision of the [[Rail Regulator|rail regulator]] in 2002 to carry out an interim review of the company's finances, with the potential to advance significant additional sums to the company.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2828365/Winsors-pointer-to-rail-billions.html |title=Windsor's pointer to rail billions |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |place=London |date=25 September 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180301015040/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2828365/Winsors-pointer-to-rail-billions.html |archive-date=1 March 2018 }}</ref> The High Court accepted that the company was not insolvent, and the railway administration order was discharged in October 2002.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Until 2013, there was discussion over whether Network Rail should be classified as a public-sector or a private-sector entity. Although it was officially a private sector organisation, the fact that its debts were underwritten by the government, and it was partly funded by the government, led to the description of "nationalisation in all but name".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/28/viewpointcolumn |title=Greenback is getting a pounding |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=29 March 2010 |place=London |first=Larry |last=Elliott |date=28 November 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131110035115/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/28/viewpointcolumn |archive-date=10 November 2013 }}</ref> It was also claimed that the government is keen for Network Rail not to be classified as a public-sector organisation, as this would mean that the company's debt would be counted as public expenditure liabilities.<ref name=Guardian2013-12-17>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/17/network-rail-public-body-uk-national-debt |last=Stewart |first=Heather |title=Network Rail to be 'government body', adding £30bn to UK national debt |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=22 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131219235704/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/17/network-rail-public-body-uk-national-debt |archive-date=19 December 2013 }}</ref> The [[Office for National Statistics]] (ONS) repeatedly clashed with the [[National Audit Office (United Kingdom)|National Audit Office]] and the [[Statistics Commission]] over whether the successor to Railtrack should be considered a private company – as the ONS believed – or included on the Government's books, as the National Audit Office argued. The NAO said that as the Government is bearing the risk that would normally be borne by equity capital, and as it can appoint, through the SRA, a director who cannot be removed by members, Network Rail is effectively a subsidiary of the Government-controlled SRA.<ref>{{cite news |title=Statisticians wrangle over Network Rail accounting treatment |last=Litterick |first=David |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2832095/Statisticians-wrangle-over-Network-Rail-accounting-treatment.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=1 November 2002 |access-date=19 November 2009 |place=London |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091119121413/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2832095/Statisticians-wrangle-over-Network-Rail-accounting-treatment.html |archive-date=19 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Statistics head acts in Rail row |last1=Litterick |first1=David |last2=Osborne |first2=Alistair |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2833962/Statistics-head-acts-in-Rail-row.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 November 2002 |access-date=19 November 2009 |place=London |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091119121423/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2833962/Statistics-head-acts-in-Rail-row.html |archive-date=19 November 2009 }}</ref>

In December 2013, the ONS announced that Network Rail would be classified as a "government body" from September 2014. As a result, the company's debt of £34&nbsp;billion was added to the [[Government debt|national debt]].<ref name=Guardian2013-12-17/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ons-decision-on-the-classification-of-network-rail |title=ONS decision on the classification of Network Rail |date=17 December 2013 |publisher=[[Department for Transport]] |website=[[gov.uk]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025021452/https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ons-decision-on-the-classification-of-network-rail |archive-date=25 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2016–17 financial year, Network Rail's net debt rose from £41.6&nbsp;billion to £46.3&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.transport-network.co.uk/Network-Rail-debt-rises-by-5bn-as-it-struggles-with-record-spending/14306 |last=Ames |first=Chris |title=Network Rail debt rises by £5bn as it struggles with record spending |work=TransportNetwork |publisher=Hemming Media |date=20 July 2017 |access-date=20 November 2018}}</ref>