§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out the costs of repairs and maintenance to the elevated section of the M6 through Birmingham in each year from 1990 to 1999. [134160]
§ Mr. HillI have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Gentleman.
296WLetter from David York to Mr. Andrew Welsh, dated 30 October 2000:
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Keith Hill, has asked the Chief Executive to reply to your recent question about the cost of repairs and maintenance to the elevated section of the M6 through Birmingham between 1990 and 1999. I am replying in the absence of Tim Matthews.This section of the M6 is part of the Midland Links Motorway Viaducts and I am afraid our records are not kept in a form which allows us to disaggregate costs for individual sections.The costs of maintaining the structures on the Midlands Links Motorway Viaducts are set out in the attached table. We estimate that the cost of maintaining the elevated section of M6 through the Greater Birmingham area, roughly between Junction 5 at Castle Bromwich and Junction 9 at Bescot, is about two thirds of the figures shown in the table.The costs exclude VAT and do not include for routine maintenance and repair of the road surfaces. Nor do they include costs associated with lighting, environmental works or communication systems. These figures could only be produced at a disproportionate cost.If you would like further details, the contact at the Agency is David Cropper. His telephone number is 0121-678 8482.
Cost of repairing and maintaining structures on the Midland Links Motorway Viaducts Financial year £ million 1998–99 27.4 1997–98 19.2 1996–97 14.0 1995–96 27.7 1994–95 26.3 1993–94 21.0 1992–93 17.7 1991–92 20.7 1990–91 19.8