Departmental Public Relations

Mr. Hurd
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments the British Transport Police has made to (a) Grayling Political Strategy and (b) Politics International in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Chris Mole
This is a matter for the British Transport Police who can be contacted at 25 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LN, e-mail:

parliament@btp.pnn.police.uk

Mr. Hurd
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments Cycling England has made to Blue Rubicon in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Mr. Khan
Blue Rubicon has been contracted through the Central Office of Information (COI) to provide public relations services to Cycling England. The agency delivers a programme of activity targeting consumers and engaging stakeholders with the aim of getting more people cycling, more safely, more often. A key focus of Blue Rubicon’s work is the promotion of Bikeability cycle training for children (supporting the Government’s goal of training an additional 500,000 children by 2012).

In the 12 months from November 2008 to October 2009, £493,177 was paid to Blue Rubicon in connection with the provision of such services. A further £432,985 was spent on external expenses (such as the supply of Bikeability badges) associated with the Cycling England campaign and procured through Blue Rubicon. In total, £926,162 was spent over the 12 months. During this period, the contract was retendered and refocused. As a result, the total value of work for the seven months from April to October 2009 was just over £321,000.

Blue Rubicon’s contract is with the COI who have released a copy of the terms and conditions of the contract and their brief for the work. These have been placed in the Libraries.

Mr. Hurd
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments the Civil Aviation Authority has made to (a) Waterfront Public Affairs and (b) AS Biss/Mandate Communications in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made.

Paul Clark
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informs us that they have paid Waterfront Public Affairs a net amount of £96,019.80 in the last 12 months. This was for providing a public affairs and public relations consultancy service to the CAA. No payments have been made to AS Biss/Mandate Communications in the last 12 months. A copy of the Waterfront Public Affairs contract will be made available in the Libraries of the House.