§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what plans he has to extend the yellow school bus pilot; and if he will make a statement; [12305]
(2) what research has been conducted (a) by and (b) on behalf of his Department on the yellow school bus pilot scheme; and when the results are to be published; [12303]
(3) in which local authorities the yellow school bus pilot scheme is in operation; and if he will make a statement; [12302]
724W(4) how much his Department has spent on the yellow school bus pilot scheme in financial years 2000–01 and 2001–02; and how much expenditure is projected for financial years 2002–03 and 2003-04; [12304]
§ Mr. EdwardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement about the pilot project for the introduction of yellow buses for home-to-school transport. [12317]
§ Ms KeebleMy Department has facilitated the introduction of American-style yellow school buses by agreeing to grant exemption from some of the provisions of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations to enable pilot schemes to operate. The first such scheme is expected to start in Calderdale in the new year. My Department will collect base line data near the start of pilot schemes, and will evaluate them, probably after about a year's operation. The results of the evaluations will be published. The Department has incurred no costs so far other than staff time in considering the case for exemptions from regulations. Future costs will be staff time plus consultancy fees for data collection and evaluation. The level of these costs will depend on the number of pilot schemes, which will be a matter for agreement between local authorities and operators.