§ Ms. RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations informed the decision to discontinue bus and coach data from quarterly transport statistics and replace them by information on United Kingdom-registered goods vehicles carried on roll-on roll-off ferries from Great Britain to mainland Europe.
§ Mr. PortilloAs part of the Government's continuing objective of lessening the burden on industry of responding to surveys, it has been decided that the quarterly monitoring of bus and coach operators' performance is no longer required for Department of Transport purposes. The decision to include in the quarterly transport statistics information on United Kingdom-registered goods vehicles carried on roll-on roll-off ferries to mainland Europe was made by the editor.
The performance of the bus and coach industry will continue to be monitored on an annual basis, and will be included in the Department's annual publication, "Transport Statistics Great Britain". More detailed information will be available in the annual specialised publication, "Bus and Coach Statistics".