§ Ms Glenda JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds he has made available to the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising to implement rail privatisation; and what are his estimates for the financial years 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98. [292]
§ Mr. WattsThe public expenditure plans announced in last year's unified budget allocated provision for the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising to spend £11 million in 1995–96. Provisions was made for the expenditure of £10 million in 1996–97 and in 1997–98.
§ Ms JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds he has made available to the Office of the Rail Regulator to implement rail privatisation; and what are his estimates for the financial years 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98. [293]
§ Mr. WattsMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 31 October that the Office of the Rail Regulator would have provisions for expenditure of £10 million this year,Official Report, column 131. Provision has been made for the expenditure of £7 million in 1996–97 and in 1997–98.
§ Ms JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds his Department has spent, or is estimated to spend, on preparations for rail privatisation, excluding funds made available to(a) British Rail, (b) Railtrack Group Plc, (c) Opraf and (d) the Office of the Rail Regulator in (i) 1994–95, (ii) 1995–96 and (iii) 1996–97. [294]
§ Mr. WattsThe answers are as follows:
- (i) 1992–93: £6.7 million
- (ii) 1993–94: £13.5 million
- (iii) 1994–95: £14.2 million
- (iv) 1995–96: £24.6 million
- (iv) 1996–97: £5.3 million
Figures for 1995–96 onwards are current estimates. These exclude main sale costs for the flotation of Railtrack, which are yet to be determined.
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§ Ms JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds he made available to Railtrack to implement privatisation in 1994–95; and what is his estimate for 1995–96. [291]
§ Mr. WattsRailtrack spent £46 million on privatisation-related expenditure in 1994–95. The estimate for 1995–96 is £30 million.
§ Ms JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will show for all consultants and other outside organisations or individuals currently or previously employed by his Department for advice or assistance in rail privatisation(a) the name of the consultancy, organisation or individual, (b) the length of the contract offered to each consultancy, organisation or individual, (c) the total amount inclusive of VAT paid to date to each consultancy, organisation or individual and (d) the services required by his Department from each consultancy, organisation or individual; and if he will make a statement. [270]
§ Mr. WattsInformation about payments to individual contractors is commercially confidential.
Payments made to date to consultants currently or previously employed by the Department total £35.4 million.
Consultants currently employed by the Department on rail privatisation are:
Company Consultancy Linklaters and Paines Legal advice Freshfields Legal advice Samuel Montagu Merchant Banking Hambros Merchant Banking SBC Warburg Merchant Banking Merril Lynch Merchant Banking KPMG Peat Marwick Accountancy and Taxation Ernst and Young Accountancy Price Waterhouse Accountancy Shandwick Marketing Gresham Marketing Dewe Rogerson Marketing Ernst and Young Information Systems Richard Ellis Property matters Sedgwick Insurance Brodies Advice on Scots law Travers Morgan Specialist advice on BRIS contract pricing Ernst and Young Corporate finance advice on BRIS contract pricing Consultants previously employed by the Department on rail privatisation are:
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Company Consultancy Arthur D. Little Research Coopers and Lybrand Access and access charging Mercer Management Freight and franchising Norman Broadbent Recruitment Putnham Hayes and Bartlett Access and access charging Debenham Tewson and Chinnocks Property matters NERA Regulatory matters Deloitte Haskins and Sells Industry structure Contracts for consultancy advice are normally offered on an on-going basis with provision for the Department to terminate the contract.
§ Ms JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds he has made available to British Rail for reorganisation in preparation for privatisation. [290]
§ Mr. WattsCosts linked to privatisation incurred by British Rail are shown in the table:
£ million cash 1993–94 92.2 1994–95 85.0 1995–96 144.0 Note: 1Estimated costs to 30 September 1995.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport which lines in the West Yorkshire region will be receiving maintenance attention before rail privatisation. [1447]
§ Mr. WattsAll operational railway lines in West Yorkshire are maintained in accordance with statutory requirements and Railtrack's rigorous safety standards.
§ Ms ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list each British Rail(a) subsidiary and (b) company formerly part of British Rail which has been privatised indicating the receipts from each sale. [1274]
§ Mr. WattsSales have been completed for the following businesses:
- Red Star
- Special Trains Unit
- BRIS Design Offices
- DCU Birmingham
- Mainline Swindon
- IDG Glasgow
- BPE Mechanical and Engineering Consultancy, Doncaster.
- Civil Engineering Design Group, York.
- BR Maintenance Ltd.
- Swindon Electronic Service Centre
- Chart Leacon Depot
- Ilford Depot
- Doncaster Depot
- Wolverton Depot
- Springburn Depot
- Eastleigh Depot
- OBS Services Ltd.
- Meldon Quarry Ltd.
- Baileyfield Switches and Crossings Works
- Ditton Timber Treatment Works
- Quality and Safety Services Ltd.
- BR QAS Ltd.
Gross proceeds to date from these sales amount to nearly £47 million. Details of individual sales completed by BR will be made public in due course, but it would be contrary to the commercial interests of British Rail and the Government to publish those details at this stage, as they may prejudice sales still in progress. In addition to proceeds from sales by BR, proceeds of approximately 144W £1.8 billion are expected from the sales of the rolling stock leasing companies, following the signing of sale and purchase agreements announced on 9 November.