§ Mrs. LaitTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes in implementation date he anticipates for the following projects owing to the change of ownership of Railtrack,(a) west coast main line in Scotland (i) overhead line equipment, (ii) electrical distribution systems, (iii) power supply systems and (iv) supervisory control and date acquisition system, (b) Edinburgh Waverley, (c) Glasgow Central, (d) Scottish Express routes, (e) automatic warning systems on Girvan to Stranraer, (f) Mossend interlocking renewal, (g) signal interlocking renewal at Glasgow Central, (h) service improvements throughout the Edinburgh urban routes, (i) new station at Beauty, (j) train protection on routes currently signalled using RETB in the Highland rural route and (k) Edinburgh Crossrail. [10396]
§ Mr. JamiesonRailtrack's administration should not itself affect project implementation. The administrator has taken over Railtrack's contractual commitments and the Government will ensure that he has sufficient funds to maintain the full operation of the network. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State would expect any changes to contracts commitments to be agreed with the parties to the contracts and with the Strategic Rail Authority.
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§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the decision to place Railtrack in administration on the value of local authority pension funds; [12239]
(2) what discussions his Department has had with local authorities on the impact of the Government's intervention in Railtrack on the value of local authority pensions funds. [12238]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 2 November 2001]: My Department is in regular touch with all the interested parties on the effectiveness of the regulations that govern local authorities' responsibility for the management and investment of their pension funds. The regulations are designed to ensure that pension fund portfolios are adequately diversified and so be able to withstand changes in market conditions.