§ 2. Mr. Turner-Samuelsasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will press for an immediate plan to reconstruct our roads, so as to check the mounting number of accidents on them, in view of the fact that there are now over twice the number of motor vehicles on the same roads as existed before the last war, and that these roads are out of date, inadequate to deal with the traffic involved, and an impediment to the movement of commercial transport.
§ The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter)I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave to my noble Friend the Member for Dorset, South (Viscount Hinchingbrooke) on 3rd November.
§ Mr. Turner-SamuelsDoes the right hon. Gentleman not think that the present delay, chaos and danger on the roads is too high a price to pay? Would it not be more in the interests of the nation, in the saving of life and in helping our economic progress, if the Government took their responsibilities and courage in both hands and brought the present state of things to an end, especially as the number of cars on the roads is increasing all the time?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI think that if the hon. and learned Member looks at 360 the answer to which I have referred him, he will get a little satisfaction.
10. Mr. J. T. Priceasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to give an approximate estimate of road fund commitments for major improvements and new construction to be authorised in 1954–1955, showing the amount per head of population of such estimates in each of the 10 divisions of his Department.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the answer contains a number of figures I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
As the year is not concluded, the figures are only tentative.
§ Following is the answer:
| Division | Approx. estimate of Road Fund commitments for major improvements and new construction to be authorised in 1954–55 | Amount of commitment per head of population | |
| £ million | |||
| s. | d. | ||
| Metropolitan | 4.4 | 8 | 7 |
| South Eastern | 1.1 | 5 | 1 |
| South Western | 1.1 | 6 | 9 |
| Midland | 1.0 | 4 | 5 |
| Wales and Monmouth | 1.3 | 10 | 1 |
| North Western | .9 | 2 | 7 |
| Scotland | 5.1 | 20 | 0 |
| North Eastern | 1.1 | 3 | 4 |
| North Midland | 1.2 | 7 | 0 |
| Eastern | .6 | 5 | 2 |
11. Mr. J. T. Priceasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give reasons why the 1954–55 allocations for major improvements and new road construction in the heavily industrialised north-west area of England is lower than that of every other area in the country, except the eastern district.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe limited amount of money available for schemes of major improvement and new construction must be allocated in accordance with both the urgency and readiness of the schemes submitted. It is also misleading to make calculations of the sort made in the question on the basis of a single year.
Mr. PriceI recognise the complexity of this problem, but is not the Minister concerned at the wide disparity which these figures reveal as between the heavy 361 industrial areas of the north-west of England and some of the lesser industrialised parts of the country; and has not somebody told him since he took this office that, in the opinion of many of us who represent northern constituencies, particularly in Lancashire, our part of the country has been grossly neglected, and we think it is about time that we had a day for Lancashire affairs in this House?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIf the hon. Gentleman will look not at a single area but at the proposed programme which my right hon. Friend the present Colonial Secretary announced last December, he will see that the North-West has not come badly out of this, although I agree that there is no part of the country which would not like to see its share increased.
§ 36. Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the total amount it is proposed to spend on new construction on trunk routes this year; and if he will give the highest priority to the removal of bottle-necks and the completion of by-passes and fly-overs on these routes.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIt is proposed to authorise this year schemes of major improvement and new construction on trunk roads totalling approximately £8 million, including approximately £2.7 million for the construction of new lengths of trunk road. I have very much in mind the categories of work mentioned by the hon. Member.
§ Mr. GrimondAs the very high cost on work on these roads will preclude any great length of new road being made with an allocation of this size, will the Minister try to complete those by-passes which now end in hopelessly confusing cross-roads or very narrow sections of crowded road?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI think that the last part of my original answer covers the end of the supplementary question, and the figures do not compare unfavourably with those of previous years.