§ Lord Sefton of Garstonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have withdrawn support for the Mersey Barrage Feasibility Study, and if so, why.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Baroness Denton of Wakefield)The Government have contributed £4 million to feasibility studies on the Mersey Barrage project. Based on this work, it became clear that the estimated costs of electricity generation from the barrage, to be met by electricity consumers, would be significantly higher than from competing generating stations. Given this, and after a full assessment of the other costs and benefits associated with a Mersey Barrage, the decision was taken to decline support for further work.