§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which locations were considered for the siting of the cattle passport centre; and if he will publish the results of the operating and capital cost analysis conducted in respect of the location exercise. [28857]
Dr. John Cunningham[holding answer 10 February 1998]: Some 80 sites were considered against selection criteria such as whether there was sufficient space. Seven sites were visited. These were in Exeter, Guildford, Huntingdon, Manchester (two sites), Sheffield and Workington.
Three sites were shortlisted. These sites were at Guildford (a MAFF site), Manchester (a vacant Government Office outside the MAFF Estate) and Workington (a British Steel site).
At the time of the decision to locate in Workington, it was clear that running costs for that site were likely to be lower than elsewhere. Subsequently, a cost benefit analysis was carried out which took account of the site specific costs, the set up costs and the running costs of each site, as estimated at that stage, over a fifteen year period. The analysis did not include the common costs of the whole Cattle Tracing System project, for instance procuring specialist equipment.
275WThe results showed that Workington was the lowest cost of the three sites analysed. The comparative costs over 15 years (discounted to present day terms) were:
- Workington: £14.3 million;
- Manchester: £15.6 million;
- Guildford: £17.7 million.