Heald, D. (1991) Accounting for the Severn Bridge. Financial Accountability and Management, 7(4), pp. 267-307. (doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0408.1991.tb00355.x)
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Abstract
Although the Severn bridge has been financed as a vote-funded service, the Severn Bridge Tolls Act 1965 required the publication of commercial-style ‘White Paper accounts’. The existence of this consistent source makes it possible to review the financial history to date of the Severn bridge, an interesting example of a case of government deciding that a capital-intensive infrastructural facility should break-even over its life. Two principal factors explain the everaccumulating deficiencies on the bridge account: the failure of successive governments to maintain the bridge toll in real terms; and the exceptional capital repairs required during the 1980s because of design faults and greater than expected loads. There are implications for the design of reporting systems for civil-service executive agencies and for the privatized ‘concession’-style financing packages for transport infrastructure which the present Government has now adopted.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Heald, Professor David |
Authors: | Heald, D. |
College/School: | College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance |
Journal Name: | Financial Accountability and Management |
Publisher: | Blackwell Publishing |
ISSN: | 0267-4424 |
ISSN (Online): | 1468-0408 |
Published Online: | 28 June 2008 |
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