§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the(a) circumstances, (b) sum involved and (c) purpose of the expenditure for which a direction was sought, relating to when an accounting officer sought direction from the Minister for Transport, Local Government and the Regions before authorising expenditure relating to the Silverstone bypass. [62148]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Silverstone Bypass was due to open in time for this year's Formula 1 British Grand Prix but progress was severely delayed due to last year's foot and mouth outbreak and exceptionally wet autumn.
879WIn previous years there have been serious problems with access to the Silverstone Circuit with resulting traffic congestion. The FIA, motorsport's governing body, had threatened to remove the British Grand Prix from future Formula 1 seasons and a major factor behind their agreeing to retain the British Grand Prix was the commitment by the Government that the access difficulties would not arise this year.
Authority was sought to pay for different working methods to recover lost time and to guarantee a temporary use of part of the bypass for the Grand Prix to be held this July. This was done in recognition of the wider national interest in ensuring the security of the British Grand Prix for future years.
The cost of accelerating the works is £8.064 million. This covers the cost of additional dry materials suitable for winter working; out of hours working at quarries, bituminous material production sites and the associated additional cost of transporting those materials; additional earthworks to remove the saturated material and provide accelerated drainage, and additional contractor's costs.