Public Transport Costs (Glaister Model) (Hansard, 19 March 1984)

§ 12. Mr. Fatchett
asked the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department makes use of the Glaister model of public transport costs and subsidies.

§ Mr. Ridley
The Department has found the model useful for comparing the value for money of public transport subsidies in the metropolitan areas, but it is not the only consideration taken into account.

§ Mr. Fatchett
Is the Secretary of State aware that the type of cost-benefit analysis used by the Glaister model shows that the revenue support of £450 million for London Transport would give benefits of £495 million? Would it not be better for the Secretary of State to act on that type of advice and model rather than simply to go ahead with his programme of cutting support to transport authorities? The cuts will lead inevitably to reductions in services and increases in fares.

§ Mr. Ridley
There are two things that the Glaister model does not do. It does not take into account the economic disadvantages of the extra taxes—whether taxes or rates—which must be levied to pay extra subsidies. That can cause considerable job losses. Nor does it measure the extent to which subsidies reduce pressures on the undertaking to cut its costs. Those are two important considerations. The Glaister model is simply a tool for comparing different types of policy in the metropolitan counties which are put before us.

§ Mr. Wareing
Notwithstanding the Secretary of State's reservations about the Glaister model, as the Department has been using it, that would seem to illustrate the Department's belief in an integrated road and passenger transport policy. Is not the Secretary of State worried that the abolition of the metropolitan counties will break that vital link?

§ Mr. Ridley
No. This model is a tool for comparing different schemes. An important consideration, which I am sure the hon. Gentleman will take into account just as much as the Government do is that the total cost of subsidies must be weighed against the benefits, because money has to come from people and it can damage the economy if we take more than we have to.