§ Mrs. BrintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if it is his policy that alternative options should be considered in undertaking an appraisal under the Government's new approach to appraisal for major road schemes; [150897]
(2) how many of the bids for major schemes submitted by local authorities in their full local transport plans contained appraisal summary tables for each of the alternative options which had been considered. [150898]
§ Mr. HillConsideration of alternative options is part of the New Approach to Appraisal.
Authorities (including the Highways Agency) submitting proposals for all major road schemes as part of their plans were required to follow the Guidance on the New Approach to Appraisal (GNATA). The GNATA appraisal summary table (AST) includes a box for a statement of other options considered when putting forward a road proposal.
Where major public transport schemes formed part of plans, authorities were asked to include an appropriate assessment of the proposed scheme against alternative options, including an AST for each. However, production of separate ASTs was not considered necessary where the choice between options was clear-cut or the scheme was in relative terms small, so in practice ASTs for alternative options were prepared for about half of the major public transport schemes given full or provisional approval in the local transport settlement.