§ 2. Ms. ArmstrongTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to develop the road infrastructure of the north-east region.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Peter Bottomley)The £12 million national contribution of transport supplementary grant is for local authority roads of more than local importance. Spending this year on national schemes will be £50 million. The 18 northern region national schemes will cost £170 million.
§ Ms. ArmstrongI thank the Minister for his reply, but is he aware of the continuing concern, especially among industrialists, about the state of the A1, which is the major link to the east coast area? With the coming of 1992 and what we shall be discussing later today, it will be even more crucial. The delays on the road are very bad, but, having lived through those delays, we will still end up with a road which it is acknowledged is not adequate to carry the traffic. It will be much overladen, as we shall have nothing more than a two-lane dual carriageway when it is finished. Will the hon. Gentleman give us some hope that there will be more investment and we will have a proper motorway?
§ Mr. BottomleyYes, and on my next visit I shall try to spell it out more plainly.
§ Mr. HoltWill my hon. Friend thank the hon. Member for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong) for becoming a late convert to the Conservative pledge of action on the A1? Is that not in stark contrast to the attitude of the Labour-controlled Cleveland county council, which has refused to put money into a private programme to see whether it is feasible to have a proper motorway to the north-east of England? That council is the backwoodsman which is driving industry away from the north of England. It is the Conservatives who have been after this motorway for a long time. We look to you to do it.
§ Mr. BottomleyIf I may answer on your behalf, Mr. Speaker, yes, and I do not know.