§ Mr. Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what cutback the Government have made in the national road programme; and how much money and how many miles of motorway are involved in this policy.
§ Mr. MulleyThe recent White Paper "Public Expenditure to 1978–79" (Cmnd. 5879) showed a reduction of nearly 40 per cent. in expenditure in 1976–77 on new construction and improvement of roads in England, compared with the 1972 White Paper (Cmnd. 5178). Resources are being concentrated on the completion of a basic 3,100 mile network of strategic routes by the early 1980s, rather than the 3,500 mile network announced in 1971. The length of motorway which is being deferred is about 120 miles.
§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the effect of decisions taken to reduce the design standards of new road schemes since his declaration of the new policy in this respect on 17th June 1974, particularly in respect of the schemes in which the numbers of carriageway lanes have been reduced or single carriageways have been substituted for dual carriageways.
§ Mr. CarmichaelThere has been some slippage in the timetable for those road schemes which have had to be redesigned in the light of the revised standards.