§ 31. Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he is satisfied with the present trunk road network in the West Midlands; and if he will list the projects in the region on which he now expects starts to be made in the next two years.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNot yet, but when we have completed our planned improvements the network will meet the region's needs.
The contracts for two sections of the M54 have been let and work should start on the remaining sections later this year. The White Paper "Policy for Roads: England 1980", Cmnd. 7908, lists the schemes planned to start in 1982 and 1983 subject to satisfactory completion of statutory procedures and the availability of funds at the time. The programme is being reviewed, and an updated version will be published in due course.