§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they accept the view expressed in the Report of the Review of Highway Inquiry Procedures (Cmnd. 7133) that technical matters such as traffic forecasts:
must not be immune from rigorous examination by an independent body",and if they will describe the steps that have been taken since the publication of the Leitch Report to ensure such an independent examination.
§ Lord BELLWINThe Government accept the view of the report that technical issues, such as methods of trunk road assessment, which have a national impact, should be subject to independent examination. The Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment, chaired by Sir George Leitch, was set up for this purpose. The committee has been undertaking initially work on the further development of the framework for appraisal proposed by the original Leitch Committee and on traffic forecasting with particular reference to the Regional Highway Traffic Model.