§ Mr. Pendryasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the cost of the study on British Rail's civil engineering standards commissioned by the Serpell committee from the firm R. Travers Morgan.
§ Mr. David HowellI have not yet received final accounts for the studies done by R. Travers Morgan and Partners, which I appointed to do work for the Serpell committee. Payments to date amount to nearly £370,000 inclusive of disbursements and VAT.
§ Mr. Pendryasked the Secretary of State for Transport by what authority, and under what terms of reference, the Serpell committee engaged the consultants R. Travers Morgan to produce a report on British Rail's civil engineering standards.
§ Mr. David HowellR. Travers Morgan and Partners was appointed by me, and not by the committee. Its terms of reference are set out in annex B. of the committee's report.