Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's news story, Competition opens to create community facilities as Pacer trains retire from passenger service, published on 11 July 2019, how much that competition has cost; and how many of his Department's staff have worked on that competition to date.

Launching the competition has brought no additional cost to the Department. Porterbrook are providing the Pacer carriages that will be converted into community assets free of charge. One member of Department staff will be responsible for the day to day running the competition for the next six months. This will include supporting external judges, who are giving their time for free, to select winning community groups when the competition closes in September.