HL Deb 12 July 1985 vol 466 cc421-2
Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To Her Majesty's Government why it was considered necessary to undertake major repairs to several sections of the A.1 at the same time as those on the M.1 motorway, when the two roads provide obvious alternatives for many destinations.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, motorway and trunk road major repair schemes are carried out mostly during the summer months when conditions are right for the laying of bituminous materials. Since major schemes often last for several weeks there is inevitably some overlapping in the timing of works on particular routes. The concurrent works carried out on the M.1 and A.1 this year—not all of them repair schemes—were regrettably unavoidable.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Does he realise that when I went up the A.1 the other day from here it took me five-and-a-quarter hours to get to Hull, instead of the normal three-and-a half? Surely he would agree that his Answer is unsatisfactory in so far as that, while it is difficult to lay bitumen in the winter, there is a large portion of the year when it can be laid? Can he give me an assurance that in future whoever is responsible will try a little harder to produce some other sensible course, rather than close two important and, to some degree, alternative roads at the same time?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, as I have said, wherever possible works are programmed to avoid problems on parallel routes, but this is not always possible. We have a lot of work to do in a fairly short season and the work in progress at Hatfield on the A.1 is not a repair scheme but a major contract connected with the upgrading of the A.1 to motorway standards in that area. There is about one year's work there. However, other smaller schemes were deferred during the closure period at junction 8.

Lord Morris

My Lords, can my noble friend confirm whether it is true that the contractor was paid some £200,000 as a bonus for completing the work at junction 8 on time? From the taxpayers' point of view was that a cost-effective move in my noble friend's opinion? If the answer to that is, yes, will he pay more bonuses to encourage initiatives and skills on this basis?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, indeed, it is true. The work was finished five days early and the contractor will gain about £200,000 in bonuses. As regards the cost effectiveness, it is estimated that the delays that can occur on roadworks of this sort cost the road users, particularly commercial road users, £130,000 a day. So for a bonus of £40,000 a day this is indeed good value for money.

The Earl of Lauderdale

My Lords, as this road leads to Scotland, should not the bonus be higher still?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, I think the bonus was quite sufficient, and indeed it proved its worth in getting the work done so much faster than we had expected. I take my noble friend's point about the road leading to Scotland, and, indeed, to the North of England!

Lord Jenkins of Putney

My Lords, since the railways manage to do these things on Sundays, is it not better to travel by rail on weekdays?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, we recommended that people should, if they could, use the railways rather than the M.1 during this period. I believe that there was a 15 per cent. increase in the usage of the railway during the period.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, this is intended to be a serious, not a facetious, Question. In view of the large bonus paid to the contractors, is the noble Lord aware of any of the payment being passed on to the workforce, who must have been partly responsible?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, obviously I should like to congratulate the workforce, but I am not aware of the position and it is for the contractor to decide how he does these things.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, bearing in mind that there were about eight areas on the A.1 up to Doncaster which were single lane for stretches of one or two miles, is there really any co-ordination between the different authorities which are repairing the various sections? My doubt is whether there is any such co-ordination, which is why there was such a massive hold-up on the A.1.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, the A.1 is a trunk road and so the roadworks on it are the responsibility of the Department of Transport. Where possible we do what we can to improve things. Over recent years we have introduced longer, smoother crossovers at contraflow sites. We have reduced working lengths to a maximum of two-and-a-half miles. We have introduced longer gaps between repair sites, and we normally keep to a six-mile minimum for that. We have also introduced lane rental schemes, which are proving successful.

Lord Brougham and Vaux

My Lords, with regard to major motorway maintenance repairs, can the noble Lord tell me what are lane rental schemes?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

Yes, my Lords. Lane rental schemes such as were used at the junction 8 works involve the contractor receiving a bonus if he completes the work early. On the other hand, if he goes over the allotted time he has to pay us £40,000 a day.

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