Birmingham Northern Relief Road

HC Deb 01 March 1995 vol 255 cc595-6W

Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the departmental preparation and supervision costs in trunk roads in England 1994 review, in respect of the proposed Birmingham northern relief road;

(2) how much his Department has spent to date on the administration of the public inquiry into the proposed Birmingham northern relief road; and how much he expects to spend by the time the inquiry is completed;

(3) how much his Department expects to spend on the compulsory purchase of land and property to make way for the proposed Birmingham northern relief road.

Mr. Watts

These are operational matters for the Highways Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Ms Joan Walley, dated I March 1995:

You asked the Secretary of State for information on the Department's costs in respect of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR).The Highways Agency expects to spend in the order of £25 million acquiring land compulsorily for the construction of BNRR. This land would remain in the ownership of the Department, who would lease it to Midland Expressway Ltd for the duration of their Concession. The road itself will revert to the Department when the concession expires.The preparation and supervision costs for this scheme referred to in the Trunk Roads in England 1994 Review relate to costs incurred by the Department in selecting the private sector promoter and negotiating the Concession Agreement. In addition, there are costs associated with carrying out certain statutory functions during the planning stage and the fees of consultants engaged to assist with the Department's supervision of the project. To date these costs amount to about £5.0 million.You also asked how much the Department had spent to date on the administration of the public inquiry and the likely outturn costs. To date we have spent around £700,000 which includes fees, venue costs, the cost of servicing the inquiry and staff costs. We expect spend to continue at about £20,000 per week until the inquiry ends some time in the summer.