Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade does not maintain central records of feasibility study costs for projects that did not proceed.
The information requested is not held in a format that would allow us to provide a comprehensive answer. To collate this information would require a manual search of records across multiple directorates and business units covering a five-year period, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The cost to the public purse is zero as the Department has not undertaken any feasibility studies in the last five years.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The information requested is not held as we do not track costs in this way.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Feasibility studies are an essential tool to avoid committing funds to unsuitable projects and their use is considered as part of routine project management.
As this is not centrally held, it is not possible to provide this information without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not hold this information centrally. The information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Feasibility studies are a routine part of the Department’s approach to assessing potential transport projects, and the associated costs are managed within individual programme budgets rather than held in a single collated dataset. These studies are conducted across a wide range of programmes, and where work does not lead to a project progressing, the expenditure remains part of normal project development activity. Producing a total figure for feasibility studies undertaken over the past five years for projects that did not proceed would therefore require a disproportionate manual review of programme‑level records.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold a central record of feasibility studies undertaken for projects that subsequently did not proceed. Identifying the total cost over the last five years would require manual review of records across multiple directorates, our partner bodies and programmes, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Where appropriate, feasibility work is undertaken as part of standard business‑case development to inform decisions and ensure value for money.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) manages its projects in accordance with the principles of HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money to ensure the effective and efficient use of public funds.
Following a review of departmental records for the last five years, the Northern Ireland Office has no such costs to report.