§ 2.35 p.m.
§ LORD KILMANYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government when last a member of the present Administration travelled, in his official capacity, on the A.1 road between Edinburgh and Berwick-on-Tweed.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND (LORD HUGHES)My Lords, the last time a Scottish Office Minister travelled in his official capacity on this part of A.1 was on April 6, 1967, when my honourable friend the Minister of State did so, on his way to a meeting in Berwick.
§ LORD KILMANYMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that on the worst part of that road, the stretch which is called the Dunbar by-pass, there was a fatal accident last week, and last month four people were killed? Is the noble Lord further aware that it has been stated in the Press that we are not gong to have the by-pass proper completed within a five-year period? In view of the danger involved and the disgrace that it is for the A.1 road between Edinburgh and London, could the noble 192 Lord not speed up some action in this pressing matter?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, the noble Lord will recall that in June of 1965 he accompanied the Minister of State on a visit to the A.1, and it was then agreed that a method could be found of improving the Dunbar by-pass by means of a series of schemes which would spread over a number of years. It was also agreed, incidentally, at that time that the Renton diversion should be fitted into the road programme, and work on this scheme is almost complete. With regard to the figures which the noble Lord has quoted, it is unfortunately true that there was an accident recently, and four fatalities in June, though I should point out that those four deaths were caused in one accident and not in a series of accidents. The part of the road on which this accident took place is that part on which improvements are to be undertaken first. Work on the first section to be improved is being started this year; a further section will be started in 1968–69, and the remaining section will be done in the following year.
There are also two railway bridges which have to be altered. This is the responsibility of the Railways Board. The accident which occurred a week ago, I may say, was one in which a vehicle collided with one of these railway bridges. I accept that it would be desirable if we could do the whole of the Dunbar bypass in one operation, but it comes down to a question of the amount of money available and the priorities. Having regard to these, we could not conscientiously do the whole of this programme, costing some £350,000, in one operation.
§ LORD KILMANYMy Lords, when it comes to a question of priorities, surely the A.1 between Edinburgh and London ought to rank rather high.
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, the unfortunate thing about Scottish roads—and they do not differ in this respect from roads South of the Border—is that the particular road in which any particular individual is interested at any particular time is always No. 1 priority.