§ Mr. EtheringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the spending plans of the(a) Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, (b) Ordnance Survey, (c) Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, (d) Office of the Rail Regulator and (e) Office of Water Services for 1998–99. [38518]
§ Mr. PrescottToday I published the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' Annual Report for 1998. It sets out in detail the outcome of the July 1997 and March 1998 Budget Statements, as it affects my areas of responsibility. The Report provides an overview of how my Department, Ordnance Survey, the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, the Office of the Rail Regulator and the Office of Water Services have discharged their functions over the past year. It provides a background to each spending programme and sets out our achievements to date with plans for the future for securing integration between the policies and services and functions of the two former departments.