§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines are given by his Department to local authorities in respect of the publication of the cost-benefit analysis for bypass schemes.
§ Mr. KeyThe Department gives no guidance to local authorities about the publication of cost-benefit analysis on any of their road improvement schemes. This is a matter to be decided by the authorities themselves. There is no requirement for authorities to publish any background information to their schemes outside the statutory framework of current legislation.
The annual transport policies and programme submissions which the Department invites authorities to make are available to the public. They contain considerable detail about each major scheme for which the authority seeks transport supplementary grant—TSG. The Department specifies the information it needs to assess applications for TSG in an annual circular issued both to local highway authorities and to district councils that do not have that status. The circular is on sale to the public. The latest edition is local authority circular 2/93, issued on 29 April 1993.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines are given by his Department to local authorities when preparing cost-benefit analysis for bypass schemes.
§ Mr. KeyAll local highway authorities are expected to familiarise themselves with the Department's cost-benefit analysis—COBA—system. They are advised in annex B to the annual transport policy and programme—TPP—circular to consult the COBA user manual. There is no specific advice on the application of COBA to bypasses.