§ Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what artistic advice he sought before deciding that vehicles of the property services agency of the Department of the Environment should be repainted brown; how many vehicles are or will be involved; what is the total cost of the repainting; and what are the reasons for the change.
§ Mr. EyreA new vehicle livery was one of the steps taken to help the new property services agency to estabilsh a corporate identity. The colour was chosen with advice from the agency's graphics designers after consulting the Transport and Road Research Laboratory on the suitability of different vehicle colours. 103 vehicles have been painted 431W brown, of which 94 were supplied new in that colour and nine have been resprayed following accidents or as required by normal maintenance. Approximately 2,500 vehicles in the United Kingdom and 900 overseas will be changed to brown only as they are replaced by new vehicles or when normal maintenance or damage necessitates a respray. The cost of painting new vehicles in a single colour brown is less than that of the previous two-tone grey, and no extra costs have been incurred.