§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his objection of clearing the investment backlog within five years of privatisation of London Underground will be a contractual commitment for purchasers. [18660]
§ Mr. BowisThe privatisation of London Underground will be structured so as to ensure that the underground's infrastructure is modernised as soon as possible. Our aim is to achieve this within five years. The exact mechanism for delivering this commitment depends on the structural option chosen. Further details will be included in the White Paper that we aim to publish this summer.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what mechanisms he will put in place to ensure that fares will not rise following the privatisation of London Underground; and if purchasers will be under a contractual obligation not to increase fares; [18662]
(2) what safeguards will apply to employees' pension rights and travel concessions in legislation introduced to privatise London Underground; [18629]
(3) what proposals he has to ensure that a guaranteed minimum level of service is maintained following the privatisation of London Underground; [18647]
(4) by what means (a) the continuation of through ticketing, (b) freedom of interchange between lines and (c) the current concessionary fares arrangements will be specifically safeguarded in legislation introduced to privatise London Underground; [18627]
548W(5) what proposals he has to limit fare increases on London Underground in year five after privatisation; [18626]
(6) by what means he will ensure the continuation of the London travelcard following the privatisation of London Underground. [18628]
§ Mr. BowisThe Secretary of State has given clear commitments in all these policy areas—Official Report, columns 149–65. We shall now develop the precise mechanisms for delivering them, which in almost all of these cases will depend on the structural option that we choose. Further details will be included in the White Paper that we aim to publish in the summer.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list those companies invited to tender for the provision of advice for the sale of London Underground, indicating which were successful; [18649]
(2) on what date his Department began the process of appointing advisers for the process of the sale of London Underground; [18648]
(3) what budget he has allocated for the provision of advice and consultancy fees for the sale of London Underground. [18650]
§ Mr. BowisWe have not yet appointed any advisers on the privatisation of London Underground, nor have any potential advisers yet been invited to tender. We shall be starting the process of appointing advisers shortly. No estimates have yet been made about the cost of advisers.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the investment backlog of the London Underground. [18659]
§ Mr. BowisLondon Transport estimates the size of the investment backlog to be around £1.2 billion.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total income received by London Underground for advertising in each of the last five years. [18622]
§ Mr. BowisLondon Underground has provided the information requested which is set out in the following table.
Year Advertising income £ million 1996–97 115.5 1995–96 12.8 1994–95 15.1 1993–94 18.1 1992–93 18.0 1Current forecast.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the amount of surplus available for other transport investment following the sale of London Underground. [18661]
§ Mr. BowisWe believe that there should be sufficient proceeds from the privatisation of London Underground to fund not only the modernisation of the underground's infrastructure but additional transport investment. The amounts involved will depend on the structural option chosen for privatisation and the level of demand from the private sector.
549W
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the income received from the marketing of products bearing the London Underground logo for each of the last five years. [18620]
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the income received by London Underground from the lease of its properties in each of the last five years; and if he will list the income he expects for each of the next five years. [18619]
§ Mr. BowisLondon Underground has provided the following figures showing income from property leasing since 1992–93. It has not been able to provide forecasts for income expected in the next five years from this source.
Year Income from property leasing £ million 1992–93 20.6 1993–94 20.4 1994–95 22.3 1995–96 24.7 1996–971 24.8 1 Current forecast.
§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) of 25 February,Official Report, column 164, if he will make a statement on the treatment of future public and private investment in London Underground Ltd. in respect of limits on public borrowing set out in the convergence criteria in the Maastricht treaty. [18354]
§ Mr. Bowis[holding answer 3 March 1997]: The general government financial deficit is the measure used in the Maastricht criteria. The general government sector excludes public corporations, such as London Underground. Net borrowing by a publicly owned London Underground would however score against London Transport's external finance limit and against the public sector borrowing requirement.