asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will take steps to ensure that the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive is fully involved in drawing up the specification for the refranchising of Central Trains.[HL7291]

The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) has been closely involved in drawing up the specification for the re-franchising of Central Trains and the Government expect this to continue. Officials of the PTE and the Department for Transport (DfT) have been meeting on a regular basis to discuss franchise specification issues since details of the new franchises which will replace Central Trains were announced in October 2005. This has enabled the PTE to submit valuable and detailed responses to the recent DfT consultations on the proposed franchise specifications. The DfT is currently considering the issues raised by all respondents and expects to announce the results of the consultations in Autumn 2006.