§ 10. Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will now review the priority given to the A494 Mold bypass.
§ Mr. Michael RobertsThe main thrust of the trunk road improvement programme continues to be improvement of the strategic links, especially the A55. Good progress is being made and I hope that, when they have been substantially completed, schemes such as the Mold bypass can be quickly fitted into the programme. Preparatory work towards that end is going ahead as quickly as resources permit.
§ Sir Anthony MeyerI am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for that encouraging reply. Is he aware that the success of the Government's road building programme in North Wales has thrown into high relief the unsuitability of the road pattern in and around Mold? May I give him advance warning that from now on I shall press for an early start on the Mold bypass, as I pressed for work on the A55?
§ Mr. RobertsI recognise the desirability of the scheme and the importance that my hon. Friend attaches to it. It is estimated that it will relieve the town of 50 per cent. of trunk road traffic.
§ Mr. Barry JonesWill the Minister insist that, when the bypass is built, a high proportion of the labour is locally based? May I remind him of the discontent in my constituency over the building of current bypass schemes because the local labour content is not high enough?
§ Mr. RobertsIt is not possible to insist that every contractor uses local labour, because that would enormously increase the costs and reduce the number of roads that we can build. However, we enourage contractors to use local labour and, in the main in North Wales, they are satisfied with it.