HL Deb 06 May 1999 vol 600 cc106-7WA
The Earl of Haddington

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Whitty on 16 March (WA 95) and 31 March (WA 49), what legal responsibility they had to retain copies of all reports of (a) weekend surveys, (b) detailed quarterly surveys and (c) annual reviews of the Severn rail tunnel in each of the last 15 years in which the responsibility of the Severn rail tunnel came under the control of the British Railways Board; and why such information was not held centrally. [HL2156]

Lord Whitty

As part of the privatisation process, the British Railway Board's records on particular assets were transferred to the new owner of the asset, together with any statutory responsibilities.