§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what distinctions he makes between authorising or designating capital expenditure on new roads and that on new waterways, stating specifically the basis for any such distinction.
§ Dr. GilbertNew waterway construction for commercial purposes is appraised on the normal financial criteria applicable to nationalised industries generally, though social costs and benefits may in appropriate cases be taken into account.
Road schemes, for which a commercial test is inappropriate, are judged against cost-benefit criteria.
The comparison of these two methods is dealt with in the Consultation Document on Transport Policy: Paper 5 in Volume 2, in particular, is relevant.