§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates his Department has made of the costs of maintaining the UK's national and local road network in the next five years: and what research his Department has evaluated into the value for money achieved by the current maintenance programme. [50883]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonFuture resources for maintenance of both the trunk and local road networks are being determined in the light of the Chancellor's announcements of 14 July 1998,Official Report, columns 187–94, on resources for transport and local government current spending (which includes maintenance of non-principal roads). We shall announce figures in due course.
The Highways Agency provides advice on the value for money of maintenance activities in several documents, such as the design Manual for Roads and Bridges, the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual and the Value for Money Manual. The advice in these documents is based, among other things, on research carried out by the Agency. The Agency aims to improve continually the value for money of its maintenance and management activities, and its research programme plays a large part in this. Value engineering appraisals are carried out before any maintenance project is finalised.
The Government are also developing a best value regime for local authority services. Under these proposals, each local authority will consult on its performance standards and each year report on their performance against those standards. There will also be periodic reviews within each authority for service to examine rigorously how performance can be improved. The best value regime will apply to highway maintenance for local authority roads.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much has been paid by road authorities throughout the UK in compensation to road users for accidents or damage to vehicles as a result of poorly maintained roads in each of the last five years. [50884]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonResponsibility for roads in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rests with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland respectively.
Within England, information relating to compensation paid to road users on roads that are the responsibility of local authorities is not collected centrally.
For trunk roads and motorways in England it is not possible to separate out the compensation paid specifically as a result of poor maintenance.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the monetary value of the national and local road network in the UK. [50882]
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§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe Highways Agency has undertaken a valuation of the 10,000 km motorway and trunk road network in England using both professional advisers and Agency staff. This evaluation was produced for the Department's forthcoming Resource Accounts and was prepared in accordance with the Treasury's Resource Accounting Manual. As at 1 April 1997, the network was valued at around £60 billion.
No research has been commissioned by the Department on the monetary value of the local road network.