§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2000,Official Report, columns 489-90W, on the Royal Train, what steps are being taken to increase the non-royal use of the Royal Train. [120615]
§ Mr. HillUnder the arrangements establishing the Royal Travel grant-in-aid in 1997, the Royal Household and the Department decided to consider proposals for alternate use of the Train, when it was in the national interest to do so and as part of the ongoing policy of reducing the cost of official Royal travel. Government Departments were duly advised that the Train, when not being used for official Royal travel, was available for use on a reimbursable basis. To date, the FCO is the only Government Department to have used the Train.
Both the Department and the Household have received preliminary inquiries from several organisations about using the Train but none of these has yet put forward any firm proposals.
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many times the Royal Train was used by(a) Her Majesty the Queen, (b) the Prince of Wales and (c) other members of the Royal Family in the last 12 months. [120616]
§ Mr. HillIn the year ended 31 March 2000, the Royal Train was used(a) eight times by Her Majesty the Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, (b) 14 times by the Prince of Wales, and (c) twice by the Duke of Edinburgh and once by the Princess Royal. All these journeys were in support of official Royal engagements.