§ Ms Glenda JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will show for all consultants and other outside organisations or individuals currently or previously employed by his Department for advice or assistance in rail privatisation(a) the name of the consultancy, organisation or individual, (b) the length of the contract offered to each consultancy, organisation or individual, (c) the total amount inclusive of VAT paid to date to each consultancy, organisation or individual and (d) the services required by his Department from each consultancy, organisation or individual; and if he will make a statement. [270]
§ Mr. Watts[pursuant to his reply, 22 November 1995, c. 142–43]: Information about payments to individual contractors is commercially confidential.
556WPayments made to date to consultants currently or previously employed by the Department total £35.4 million.
Consultants currently employed by the Department on rail privatisation are:
Consultants Linklaters and Paines Legal advice Freshfields Legal advice Samuel Montagu Merchant Banking Hambros Merchant Banking SBC Warburg Merchant Banking Merrill Lynch Merchant Banking KPMG Peat Marwick Accountancy and Taxation Ernst and Young Accountancy Price Waterhouse Accountancy Shandwick Marketing Gresham Marketing Dewe Rogerson Marketing Ernst and Young Information Systems Richard Ellis Property matters Sedgwick Insurance Brodies Advice on Scots law Travers Morgan Specialist advice on BRIS contract pricing Ernst and Young Corporate finance advice on BRIS contract pricing Mercer Management Freight PA Consulting Group Information Systems Touche Ross Reporting consultants Solid Solutions Retail offer advisers Sherman and Sterling US lawyers Bruce Bower Assoc. Financial adviser K. Bence Engineering adviser Contractors employed by the Department on rail privatisation to provide sercvices other than consultancy advice are:
Consultants WRC (via C01) Advertising agency Sampson Tyrrell Design company Royal Bank of Scotland Receiving/custodian bank Mail Marketing (Bristol) Ltd Mailing house Database Group Ltd Database manager Royal Mail Postal services Lloyds Bank Registrars Database provider Bowne International Printers Touche Ross Fraud audit Contractors employed by the Department on rail privatisation are:
Consultants Arthur D. Little Research Coopers and Lybrand Access and access charging Norman Broadbent Recruitment Putnham Hayes and Bartlett Access and access charging Debenham Tewson and Chinnocks Property matters NERA Regulatory matters Deloitte Haskins and Sells Industry structure Contracts for consultancy advice are normally offered on an on-going basis with provision for the Department to terminate the contract.
557W
§ Mr. George RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those consultants, outside organisations and individuals employed to date by his Department to assist with the franchising of ScotRail. [5507]
§ Mr. WattsNo advisers have been appointed to assist exclusively with the franchising of ScotRail, but a number of advisers have been appointed to assist on a range of issues relating to rail privatisation. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Ms Jackson) on earlier today.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the Director General of the Office of Rail Franchise Regulation concerning issues of competition relevant to the preferred bidder status of the Western Region management team and First Bus for the Great Western passenger rail franchise and the dominant supplier position of First Bus in bus transport on the Cardiff-Swansea express bus route; and if he will make a statement. [5418]
§ Mr. Watts[holding answer 11 December 1995]: Any competition issues raised by a rail franchise bid are for the franchising director, the Rail Regulator and the Director General of Fair Trading. My Department has been involved in discussions of a general nature.
The Railways Act 1993 confers on the Rail Regulator the functions of the Director General of Fair Trading with respect to any monopoly situation or anti-competitive practice relating to the supply of railway services. Qualifying mergers are investigated by the Office of Fair Trading under the Fair Trading Act 1973.