§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 27 January,Official Report, column 35, if he will list the main differences between the main Peat Marwick consultancy cost-benefit analysis study on the Cardiff bay barrage presented to his Department in November 1987 and the second version presented in mid 1988. [16994]
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe economic evaluation report on a Cardiff bay barrage received in June 1988 was a revision of the one presented in November 1987. A valid detailed comparison cannot be made except at disproportionate cost. However, the revised study took account of the completion, by the board of the Cardiff Bay development corporation, of a regeneration strategy for the bay and the choice of a single barrage option. These led to significant changes in the assumptions made in the first study, including increases in infrastructure costs and land disposal values. The net present value of the barrage option remained positive. The estimated betterment figure of £227 million remained as in the original 1987 study.