HL Deb 27 January 2005 vol 668 cc184-5WA
Lord Lea of Crondall

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Department for Transport's news release of 2 December 2004, what are the benefit/cost ratios of the major road schemes submitted by local roads authorities to the Department for Transport in 2004 and their position in the four bands of value for money; and whether they will release this information in future years as part of the annual announcement on the approval of schemes. [HL730]

Lord Davies of Oldham

The attached table shows the agreed benefit to cost ratios (BCR) and value for money (VFM) categories of the road construction schemes that were submitted to my department as part of the local transport plan capital settlement 2004.

The VFM categories take account of environmental, regeneration and other non-monetised impacts, as well as the BCRs. In addition to value for money, there are other considerations that may affect whether a project should go ahead, including:

  • practicality;
  • deliverability;
  • public acceptability;
  • distributional and equity impacts;
  • affordability and finance sustainability;
  • the achievement of central government, local and regional objectives; and
  • the amelioration of identified problems.

These factors are considered alongside the BCR and VFM when a decision is made on a major scheme.

In a number of cases, BCRs and VFM assessments were not finalised due to outstanding modelling and appraisal issues.

I can confirm that this information will be made available in future years as part of the annual local transport capital settlement.

Authority Scheme Benefit/Cost Ratio Value for money category
Kent Sittingbourne northern distributor route 5.8 high*
Surrey A31 Hickley's corner underpass 2.3 high
Kent East Kent access phase 2 4.1 high
Liverpool Edge Lane west 3.2 high*
East Riding Beverley integrated transport plan 5.2 high
Cambridgeshire A142 Ely southern bypass 2.9 medium
East Sussex Bexhill to Hastings link road 3.1 medium*
Norfolk Bl108 hospital access road 2.1 poor
Northants A509 Isham-Wellingborough Not finalised Not finalised
Oxfordshire A415 Marcham bypass Not finalised Not finalised
Greater Manchester SEMMMS major road scheme Not finalised Not finalised
Wigan A5225 Wigan gateway Not finalised Not finalised
Greater Manchester Carrington-Irlam/Cadishead link, Phl Not finalised Not finalised
Durham Durham northern relief road Not finalised Not finalised
West Midlands-Birmingham City Council Chester Road access improvements Not finalised Not finalised
West Midlands-Birmingham City Council Dudley Road traffic management stage two Not finalised Not finalised
West Midlands-Sandwell A41/A4031 All Saints Way junction improvement Not finalised Not finalised
The starred (*) schemes were given provisional approval at the 2004 settlement.