§ LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTHMy Lords, I beg to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government if the main contractor for the construction of the London—Birmingham motorway was asked to, requested to or in fact did, submit alternative tenders upon the basis of cost and time of completion; if so, what was the difference in time and cost between the two tenders and whether the same principle could be adopted in the tendering for the construction of the Oxford Western by-pass, in view of the fact that the London—Birmingham motorway of 53 miles containing 129 fly-overs, under-passes, bridges, etc., is to be completed in nineteen months and the Oxford Western by-pass of 3½ miles with five bridges and one viaduct is to take twenty-eight months.]
§ LORD MANCROFTAlternative tenders for the first 53 miles of the London—Birmingham motorway and for the St. Albans By-pass were invited for completion by 31st October, 1959, and 31st October, 1960. After considering all the factors involved, especially that the shorter period would enable the contracts to be let on a fixed price basis, my right honourable friend, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, decided that the balance of advantage lay in accepting the tenders for the earlier date, although they were slightly higher.
It is unlikely that similar conditions calling for alternative dates will frequently occur again, as experience on the motorway contracts has shown that this sort of project can be carried out in a relatively short period and there would be little point in troubling contractors to provide alternative tenders for longer periods. Many major road projects have, however, some limiting factor—such as the viaduct over a canal, railway, and the A.40 road in the Oxford Western by-pass proposal, as I explained in my reply to the noble Lord's supplementary question on July 2 —which effectively determines the period of the contract.
§ LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTHMy Lords, in asking the noble Lord to accept my thanks for the helpful nature of his reply, may I also commend the business acumen of the Minister in offering incentives to road contractors to complete the road works of this country in the shortest possible space of time? May I ask the noble Lord whether Her Majesty's Government still accept the principle which was laid down by the noble Marquess, Lord Salisbury, when he led your Lordships' House, that it was the policy of Her Majesty's Government to complete the ring roads around Oxford in the shortest possible space of time? And would not the shortest possible space of time naturally bring the Oxford ring road into the category that the noble Lord has just mentioned of priority road works?
§ LORD MANCROFTMy Lords, it might possibly bring it into that category, but there is also the question of cost and convenience to be considered. in this particular case of the Oxford ring road, the unusual set of circumstances, of which the noble Lord is well aware, make it necessary to deal with it in a slightly different way from the main motorway that we have been discussing.
§ LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTHWould the noble Lord be kind enough to ask his right honourable friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to give serious consideration to whether the relief of traffic congestion in Oxford would not warrant such treatment upon this project?
§ LORD MANCROFTMy Lords, my right honourable friend has heard of the traffic congestion in Oxford, and had this point in mind when he made his decision.
§ LORD SALTERMy Lords, might I ask the noble Lord to recognise and to impress upon his colleague in the other place that if the difficulties are in some respects special in Oxford the reasons for expediting and completing the whole of the by-pass ring around Oxford are also very special and exceptional?
§ LORD MANCROFTYes, my Lords, my right honourable friend is well aware of those facts.