§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for(a) his Department and (b) associated bodies listed in the National Asset Register, how many vehicles are currently (i) owned and (ii) leased; if he will indicate their (1) fuel types and (2) engine cubic capacities; how many of the vehicles due for replacement by (A) his Department and (B) associated bodies listed in the National Asset Register will be replaced in (x) 1999–2000, (y) 2000–1 and (z) 2001–2 by vehicles using (al) petrol, (b2) diesel, (c3) natural gas, (d4) electric batteries and (e5) other; and how much his Department plans to spend in each year on vehicle replacements. [90691]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 19 July 1999]: 1. The FCO and associated bodies have the following owned and leased vehicles; details of the fuel type and engine capacity are included where they are known.
2. The FCO has 1,288 vehicles overseas, of which 29 are leased.
505W3. 543 vehicles use petrol and 362 use diesel; the remainder are unknown as more detailed information about vehicles purchased by FCO Posts overseas is not available. In each case, the type of fuel chosen will depend on the type of vehicle required and the availability of fuel types in each country at the time of purchase. Specific details of engine cubic capacity are not known in full, but is on average 2.5 or 3.5 litres.
4. Planning for the replacement of vehicles has now been devolved to Commands. It is disproportionate in the time available to produce the information for the purchase of vehicles for overseas Missions.
5. The FCO' s home fleet has 45 vehicles in total, of which 32 are diesel, the remainder is petrol. The replacement programme for the next three years is as follows: 1999–2000, four vehicles; 2000–01 and 2000–02 will be dependent upon budgetary allocation.
6. The home fleet will replace two vehicles with duel fuel and will consider this further when a decision to purchase another vehicle is made.