HC Deb 14 June 1999 vol 333 cc42-3W
Mr. Edward Davey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the total costs of the road transport system in the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by(a) road building and maintenance, (b) traffic law enforcement, (c) pollution and (d) congestion; and if he will make a statement. [86111]

Ms Glenda Jackson

The latest estimate of expenditure in England on road building and maintenance are set out in the table. Costs incurred in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the respective devolved authorities.

Expenditure in 1998–99
£ million
Road building Road maintenance
Trunk roads in England 580 652
Local Authority roads in England 162 1,938

The deployment of police resources to different functions are operational matters for individual chief constables, and information on expenditure on traffic law enforcement is not collected centrally. Even at a local level it can be difficult to make such assessments, since traffic officers spend a good deal of their time dealing with ordinary crime and crime prevention, while officers assigned to general beat duties act against breaches of road traffic law.

Estimates of the levels of pollution caused by road traffic are published on a regular basis. The latest estimate of CO2 emissions from road transport in the UK in 1997 is 32 million tonnes of carbon, some 21 per cent. of total UK CO3 emissions1. We do not currently attempt to place an economic value on these.

As part of the Department's work on revisions to the 1997 pre White Paper National Road Traffic Forecasts, alternative ways in which congestion costs could be estimated are being explored. As yet, however, there is no agreed basis for such calculations. A number of external estimates have been made, these include an estimate of £15 billion in 1989 by the CBI (increased to £20 billion in 1996); and £7 billion in 1996 by National Economic Research Associates. 1Source: UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory estimates of emissions at source.