§ Mr. ChidgeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 15 July,Official Report, column 131, (1) whether the results of the development work on refining the shadow toll payment mechanism so that it is less dependent on traffic-related payments will cover those schemes contained in the accelerated review; [9957]
(2) in what circumstances shadow tolling of roads offers value for money; [9958]
(3) when he expects to be able to make an announcement on the refinements to shadow toll payment mechanisms to make them less dependent on traffic-related payments. [9959]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonA consideration in selecting design, build, finance and operate projects for competition is potential commercial viability. Whether projects offer value for money depends entirely upon the bids submitted for individual projects. The development work on payment mechanisms was begun initially for possible application to the A40 west London approach and A13 Thames gateway DBFO projects. If this refinement of remuneration arrangements is successful it could be applied elsewhere, and we would announce its introduction when we are able to apply it to a particular project.