Project appraisal - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 344

21 Project appraisal
21.1 Introduction
'Appraisal' is the process of assessing the worth of a course of action. It can be
undertaken of individual projects or of plans, programmes or policies. In this chapter
we will be exploring the subject in relation to major transport investments (currently
defined as schemes with a capital cost of more than £5m) which seek funding from
central government.
To students or anyone else who has not experienced the inside world of transport
planning, the extent to which the Department of Transport exercises control over
the technical procedures followed in the planning and appraisal of projects is likely to
come as something of a shock. There are extensive stipulations about the amount and
type of information to be supplied, the basis on which this is derived and the format in
which it is to be presented. We begin this chapter by explaining the reasoning behind
this common appraisal process and noting its implications (21.2).
At the heart of the process is the preparation of a comprehensive statement of
impacts relative to a set of objectives drawn from the 1998 White Paper. These are
presented in an Appraisal Summary Table (AST) which provides decision-makers with
evidence of the diversity of impacts in a manageable form. Because of the importance of
this tool we deal with it first (in 21.3) followed by a brief explanation of the forecasting
and modelling procedures used to generate the information on which it is based (21.4).
From the perspective of cost-effectiveness of public spending the impacts reported in
the AST are synthesised in advice to Ministers on 'value for money' (21.5).
There are further technical elements which have come to be recognised as
important to appraisal overall. These represent stages in a broader planning process
which spans the preparation of the AST. The analysis of objectives and problems takes
place previously and is discussed in section 21.6. There are then a number of analyses
which are conducted as 'supplementary' to the AST (21.7). Finally in section 21.8
we give a brief description of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) which is a
separate requirement under EU legislation.
21.2 The common appraisal process and its significance
Central government has a duty to ensure that the money it disburses for transport and
other purposes is spent wisely. In pursuit of this the Treasury has published guidance
on appraisal in its 'Green Book' which all departments are required to follow (HM
Treasury 2003). This is designed to ensure that spending proposals are assessed in a