§ Mr. MacFarquharasked the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to publish the report of the Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe report is being published today and copies are available in the Library.
I appointed the Committee to make an independent study of the ways in which my Department assesses the need for individual road schemes, and I welcome the report, which represents a very considerable volume of work in a difficult and technically complex field. I am grateful to Sir George Leitch and to the members of his committee for the hard work and enthusiasm which they have devoted to their formidable task.
The committee has made important recommendations about my Department's methods of forecasting future traffic and the ways in which the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of road building are evaluated. It suggests how the benefits of investment in roads and in other modes of transport might 717W be compared. Above all it recommends that greater efforts should be made to achieve better public understanding of the methods of trunk road assessment by giving clearer explanations of the methods and procedures.
I shall immediately begin to judge schemes which come to me for decision at the various stages of their preparation in the light of the views expressed by the committee. My Department has today issued new interim traffic forecasts which take account of the committees views.
I am urgently considering all the recommendations in the report. Meanwhile, I accept the view of the committee that in a field as complex as trunk road assessment there is much to be gained from subjecting my Department's methods of continuing scrutiny by independent expert opinion. I intend, therefore, to follow the committees recommendation to appoint a Standing Advisory Committee to assist me in this way. I am glad to say that Sir George Leitch has agreed to accept the chairmanship of this committee.