Steam railways assured young people can volunteer amid century-old law concerns

The reassurance comes as a Private Member’s Bill originating in the House of Lords seeks to remove doubts raised over the legality of the practice.

Heritage Railways and Tramways (Voluntary Work) Bill seeks to address part of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920, which states that “no child shall be employed in any industrial undertaking”, and make clear that it does not apply to young people volunteering on heritage railways or tramways.

The Bill would explicitly state that children aged 10 or over can volunteer on heritage railways, depending on certain criteria.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester, a Labour peer and president of the Heritage Railway Association, is sponsoring the Bill.

He told the Lords: “The Bill seeks to remove statutory restrictions on young people volunteering to work on heritage railways and tramways.

“Many young persons seek to participate in these operations for the benefit of themselves as well as that of the operators. Unfortunately, the law states that those under compulsory school age are barred from working on heritage railways, even on a voluntary basis.”

Despite the Government’s reassurances, Lord Faulkner warned about the risk of private prosecutions and insurers potentially refusing claims, adding: “My Bill removes that element of doubt.”

Work and pensions minister Viscount Younger of Leckie sought to reassure the Lords that regulators have committed not to seek prosecutions solely based on the Act.

Lord Younger referenced the Health and Safety Executive, and said: “In the case of heritage railways, the Office of Rail and Road is the regulator for health and safety legislation. Both regulators have confirmed that they would not enforce the 1920 Act solely to prevent young people from volunteering on heritage railways.

“It has not been used in a prosecution since 2009, and when it was used, it was alongside more modern health and safety legislation, prosecuting cases where young people were employed illegally in dangerous environments.

“In total, the 1920 Act has been enforced on eight occasions since 1998, and none of these prosecutions were against heritage railways.”

He added: “To repeal or amend the 1920 Act may seem initially the best course of action. However, because of the links to other legislation, the process of making changes would be extensive. And there is no evidence that this legislative change will make a difference to the number of young people volunteering, and therefore it is not proportionate to proceed with it.”

He went on: “The Bill seeks to allow children to gain valuable experiences volunteering on heritage railways and tramways. The Government supports this aim. However, we believe the current legislative framework does just that.

“Nothing would be gained from a change to legislation when other, simpler, more effective options are available, in particular working with the regulators to explore the type of activities and tasks that are proportionate for young volunteers.”

Addressing concerns over what would happen should something “go wrong with a young person working as a volunteer”, he said: “If such an incident did occur, both the Health and Safety Executive and the Office of Rail and Road have confirmed that there will be a full investigation taking account of the risks the young people were exposed to, and how they were controlled.”

The Bill received an unopposed third reading in the Lords and will now head to the Commons for further scrutiny, but it is unlikely to become law without Government support.