HC Deb 11 December 1996 vol 287 cc255-6W
Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria have been altered to amend the decisions made in the 1995 review of the road programme in respect of the removal of schemes from the main programme and the promotion of schemes from the longer-term programme. [8617]

Mr. Watts

Since the review published in November 1995 as "Managing the Trunk Road Programme", the Government's Green Paper "Transport—The Way Forward", Cm 3234, has been published affecting the Government's view of priorities and there have been changes in the circumstances of individual schemes. In some cases, schemes have been reviewed to reduce their cost and scope; in some cases, costs and benefits have been updated; there has been public consultation on some schemes; some schemes have been taken forward as part of the design, build, finance and operate programme; and, in some cases, local circumstances have changed.

Mr. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in respect of each of the schemes remaining in the road programme and for each scheme removed from the programme, what is the latest figure available on the ratio between current traffic and the critical traffic flow on that link and when the CTF ratio exceeded 100 per cent. or is forecast to exceed 100 per cent. [8619]

Mr. Watts

I will write to the hon. Member with details and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Mr. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the appraisal methodology used to determine which trunk road improvements will(a) remain and (b) cease to be part of the road programme. [8368]

Mr. Watts

Decisions on which schemes should be included within the £6 billion road programme announced by my right hon. Friend on 26 November were taken in the light of a number of factors for each scheme, including the benefit to cost ratio, the environmental impact, the importance of the route on which the scheme was situated, the perceived importance of the scheme in the region, the actual or potential statutory or generalised blight generated by the scheme and the time at which the unimproved road was likely to experience substantial congestion. Longer-term schemes, for many of which little detailed information was yet available, were mostly withdrawn.

Mr. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the regional priorities for road schemes given by the Government offices as part of the latest review of the road programme. [8365]

Mr. Watts

No. These were prepared for the purpose of the Department's internal consideration of policy options and were only one of a range of factors taken into account in reaching decisions on the content of the road programme.