§ 10. Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to speed up the pre-construction procedures for roads.
§ Mr. MacGregorI am committed to the faster delivery of road schemes and shall soon introduce a package of proposals to speed up statutory and administrative procedures for preparing road schemes.
§ Sir Thomas ArnoldWill my right hon. Friend confirm that there is an urgent need to speed up those procedures? Does he envisage reaching a stage where either amending or primary legislation will be necessary? Will he do everything possible to speed up the construction of his Department's proposed Stockport north-south bypass?
§ Mr. MacGregorI think that my hon. Friend the Minister for Roads and Traffic has been answering parliamentary questions on my hon. Friend's latter point, which I have noted. I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of speeding up the procedure. On average there is an interval of about thirteen and a half years between a scheme's entering a programme and finally being opened and 12 of those thirteen and a half years are spent discussing the route and giving all interested parties the right to argue their case. I do not wish to affect the rights of interested parties to do so, but I wonder whether the process needs to take an average of 12 years. Some proposals that I introduce may require primary legislation, but I am anxious to do as much as possible without such legislation.