§ Mr. Dunnettasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce the name of the chairman and the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into investment appraisal methods for road schemes.
§ Mr. William RodgersYes. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment is to be Sir George Leitch.
The terms of reference are:
(i) to comment on and recommend any necessary changes in the Department's methods of appraising trunk road schemes and their application, taking account both of economic and environmental factors, and of the extent to which these methods give a satisfactory basis for comparison with investment in alternative methods of transport;(ii) to review the Department's method of traffic forecasting, its application of the forecasts and to comment on the sensitivity of the forecasts to possible policy changes.The Committee will invite representations from the public. Its report will be published.