The Tories have been pursuing a bizarre thread of written parliamentary questions about large road schemes that were pursued when they were in power and cancelled by Labour, which are only serving to highlight what a waste of money the schemes were.
It started with a question from shadow transport secretary Richard Holden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many National Highways schemes with an extant Development Consent Order have been cancelled since 5 July 2024; and what estimate she has made of the total public expenditure incurred on each of those schemes prior to cancellation.
It was answered (sort of) by the then roads minister, Simon Lightwood, in June:
Since 5 July 2024, four road schemes with an extant Development Consent Order have been cancelled on affordability and/or value-for-money grounds.
Figures for the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel and A1 Morpeth to Ellingham dualling were published in the National Highways’ Annual Report and Accounts 2025, along with a provisional figure for the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening and A47 Wansford to Sutton dualling schemes.
Final exact costs for the A12 and A47 will be published in the 2026 Accounts.
Note that one of these schemes is the A1 Morpeth to Ellingham which, as I have written extensively, was secretly shelved by the Tories.
The figures for this scheme and the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel in National Highways’ Annual Report and Accounts 2025 are £67.8m and £224.7m respectively, while the 2026 accounts say:
On 8 July 2025, the government announced the cancellation of two schemes, the A12 Chelmsford to A120 improvements and the A47 Wansford to Sutton, as part of the 2025 Spending Review. As a result, the company recognised a loss of £251.6 million, comprising £39.1 million in respect of the A47 scheme and £212.5 million relating to the A12 scheme.
We then get to a question from Shivani Raja
how much public expenditure had been incurred on each of the four schemes prior to their cancellation, including expenditure on (a) planning, (b) design, (c) procurement and (d) preparatory construction works.
Which seems at best to be seeking a breakdown, but which the current roads minister, Justin Madders, has not been able to answer “within the usual time period”.
Holden had already asked why each scheme had been cancelled, and was told:
The A1 Morpeth to Ellingham scheme was cancelled on value for money grounds while the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down, A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening and A47 Wansford to Sutton dualling schemes were cancelled on affordability grounds.
But, in any case, Madders has just answered a question from Greg Smith about the four schemes’ respective value for money categories:
Before cancellation, each scheme had the following value for money category:
• A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down – Low
• A1 Morpeth to Ellingham – Poor
• A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening – Poor
• A47 Wansford to Sutton dualling – Medium/Low
Note however that, although the Tories seem in danger of falling into the sunk costs fallacy, the relevant appraisal at the time is considered for continuation or cancellation is not how much it costs overall but how much it will cost from that point and whether it will be worth it in terms of benefits.
That could have changed the value for money calculation for some of these schemes.
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