7.—(1) Section 24A (Secretary of State franchise exemptions: operator agreements)(1) is amended as follows.
(2) In the heading for “Secretary of State franchise exemptions” substitute “Franchise exemptions granted by Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers”.
(3) In subsection (1) after “the Secretary of State” insert “or the Welsh Ministers”.
(4) In subsection (2)—
(a)after the first “the Secretary of State” insert “or the Welsh Ministers”;
(b)after “that the Secretary of State considers appropriate” insert “or (as the case may be) that the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate”.
(5) In subsection (3) after “that the Secretary of State considers appropriate” insert “or (as the case may be) that the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate”.
Section 24A was inserted by the Deregulation Act 2015 (c. 20), Schedule 8, paragraph 8, and amended by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (c. 1), Schedule 5, paragraph 13.