§ Baroness Hamweeasked Her Majesty's Government:
To give details of their calculations of the manpower reductions and cost savings that could be made as a result of removing the permit system from the London Boroughs Transport Scheme as proposed by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)An estimate was made of the 79WA manpower reductions and cost savings from abolition of the permit requirements following consideration of the London Boroughs Transport Scheme (LBTS) projected budget for 1994–95. The estimated annual savings to LBTS of £ 400,000 were based on the assumption that up to half of the LBTS annual running costs budget is spent on permit issue and administration. Estimated annual savings to business of up to £ 3 million are expected, from information supplied by trade associations.