Letter from the Minister of State, Department
for Transport, to the Chairman of the Committee (RR 33A)
Following my attendance at Transport Select
Committee's Inquiry on Rural Railways, I promised to respond to
some outstanding questions raised by the Committee at the Inquiry.
Firstly, the Committee asked whether senior
officials in the Strategic Rail Authority had already left the
organisation because of concerns about the proposed transfer of
responsibilities to the Secretary of State. A number of staff
in the Authority have decided in recent months to pursue their
careers elsewhere, and in some cases uncertainty about the future
appears to have been a factor. None of the 11 staff in the most
senior grade has left. One of the 40 staff at the next level is
due to leave in March and another at a date yet to be arranged.
The Committee also asked about future funding
of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACORP). As
you will see from the attached letter I have [today] written to
Alun Michael, the Minister for State at the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs to seek clarification on the future of
the Countryside Agency's funding for ACORP. Following his response
I will then report back to the Committee on this issue.
Tony McNulty
18 January 2005
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