§ Ms ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of the first three tranches of shadow toll road contracts over the period of each contract; and what would have been the cost of building these roads had they been built under the old procedures. [20781]
§ Mr. WattsI have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Ms Clare Short, dated 19 March 1996:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question about the cost of public funds of the first three tranches of shadow toll road contracts over the period of each contract, compared with the cost of building them under the old procedures.
part of the process of evaluating bids for a DBFO contract, we compare those bids with an analysis of the costs of procuring the new construction and maintenance by more conventional means. This enables us to satisfy ourselves that the proposed DBFO represents genuine value for money.