§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is his current estimate of the cost of rail privatisation in the forthcoming financial year;
(2) what is the current estimate for the costs of rail privatisation for the forthcoming financial year.
§ Mr. FreemanPlanned expenditure by my Department, the Office of the Rail Regulator, and the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising for 1994–95 is £28.9 million. British Rail's and Railtrack's estimates of costs associated with reorganisation are a matter for them.
The breakdown of this estimate is given in the following table:
Expenditure on rail privatisation 1994–95 Staff and internal costs (£ million) External consultants (£ million) Total (£ million) Department of Transport 2.0 12.0 14.0 Office of the Rail Regulator 3.8 1.6 5.4 Office of Passenger Rail Franchising 3.6 5.9 9.5 28.9