§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for Transport why, in view of the need to save public money, he decided to employ the services of private consultants for the Barton high level bridge M63 scheme rather than the county engineers' department.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Transport why he considered Greater Manchester engineers' department unsuitable to carry out the preparation work on the widening of the Barton high level bridge—M63—on an agency basis; and why he has decided to put the work out to private consulting engineers.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe Government's general policy is that where work can be carried out efficiently in the private sector it should be done there rather than in the public sector. Our normal practice is therefore to offer consulting engineers the preparation work on every road scheme estimated to cost over £1 million. In the case of the widening of Barton high level bridge, the extreme complexity of the scheme for widening the bridge to three lanes makes it particularly suitable for a firm of consulting engineers with specialist experience of structures.