§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what were the criteria used to determine the figure of £150 million as the total available for a rolling stock leasing project; and if the sum will be treated as public expenditure.
§ Mr. FreemanThe purpose of the leasing concession announced in the autumn statement was to encourage the development of a private sector leasing market in the transition to the privatised railway. The figure of £150 million reflected a judgment on the size of the concession the Government considered prudent to make, given the need to offer the leasing industry some genuine experience of rolling stock leasing.
Only rental payments made by the public sector under the lease will score as public expenditure as they are made.