§ Lord Hogg of Cumbernauldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made by the Scottish Office on the review of the roads programme.
§ Lord SewelWork is progressing on the development of an improved method of appraising trunk road schemes and on reviewing the scope for achieving improved value for money from trunk road expenditure, including that allocated to repairs, maintenance and minor schemes. The revised appraisal method will reflect the Government's criteria of economy, safety, environmental impact, accessibility and integration. This will be the subject of public consultation during the first half of 1998 and, thereafter, it is expected that the outcome of the review will be announced in the Summer of 1998. Decisions on the major road schemes to be undertaken in future will be made following the review, except in the case of those schemes identified at the outset of the review for earlier consideration, the M.8 Baillieston-Shotts and the Kincardine Bridge.