§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken to assess the relative costs and benefits of capital expenditure and revenue expenditure on transport. [173313]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Secretary of State assesses each scheme on its merits, capital or revenue, against a range of appraisal criteria under the New Approach to Appraisal before taking individual investment decisions. Decisions must be consistent with the Government's overall spending allocations determined as part of the budgetary process. The Government meet their golden fiscal rule, so over the economic cycle, we only borrow to invest.