ROAD CONSTRUCTION UNITS AND COST/BENEFIT ANALYSES (Hansard, 21 April 1970)

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, R.A.F. (LORD WINTER-BOTTOM)
My Lords, the road construction units are recording information about the costing of their operations, for use in the allocation of resources to achieve maximum efficiency. Consultations are now proceeding with a view to the standardisation and extension of the system. The R.C.U. system has been in existence for only two years or so and collection of data over a longer period is necessary before any useful analyses can be made. It is not clear at present whether the results of this work will be in a form which could usefully be published.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that the staffs of the R.C.U.s have roughly trebled in 30 months, while the shortfall in programmed road construction has 613 varied between 10 and 20 per cent.? Does not that therefore call for close cost/benefit analysis along the lines boasted of in the Treasury's economic progress report in the month of April, 1970?

§ LORD WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, I never thought the Treasury had to boast. Nevertheless, the hard fact of life is that local authorities have all been costing their road schemes differently. We should like to get commonality in the costing of road construction. This would be a big job and a joint Ministry of Transport and local authority operation. I think that when the work is done we shall get some useful information from it, but it will take time because we have to co-ordinate activities.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, may I ask one further question: whether there is any question of matching up the cost of the R.C.U.s per mile of road against the cost that used to be charged in respect of outside consulting engineers?

§ LORD WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, It is not quite the same thing. The point is that originally this work was done; by consulting engineers or by local authorities on behalf of the Ministry of Trans-port, and this did not produce commonality. The R.C.U. system brings the Ministry of Transport and local authorities together, and we are working towards a common system of costing which will be if I may use an Americanism, meaningful.

§ LORD WYNNE-JONES
My Lords, does my noble friend think that the benefit of cost/benefit analysis should accrue before the analysis is carried out?

§ LORD WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, that would be an ideal situation.

§ LORD NUGENT OF GUILDFORD
My Lords, in view of the trebling of the staff to which my noble friend has referred, does the noble Lord accept that there is a special obligation on the Government to publish the results of the development of these R.C.U.s, and will he take that message back to his right honourable friend the Minister of Transport, and ask him whether he will try to make an early statement of when publication can be made?

§ LORD WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, yes. Taking it in a more serious vein, I think the work of the Road Research Laboratory and research into road con-struction is of the first importance. I believe it is true to say that my right honourable friend the Minister of Transport would not have initiated these studies if it was not considered important; but at the moment we are trying to get commonality in road construction costing, and that takes time. If we were dictators it might be easier, but we are not.

LORD INGLEWOOD
My Lords, can the noble Lord confirm that the work of these R.C.U.s is in no way undermining the responsibility of county councils to those who elected them?

§ LORD WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, there are six R.C.U.s, three of which are headed by officials of the Ministry of Transport and the other three by officials formerly employed by local authorities. I think I can assure all noble Lords that the County Councils Association will not be bypassed, and no instructions; will be given to R.C.U.s to change existing methods without prior consultation with the County Councils Association.