§ Mr. Charles Morrisonasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether the study by Sir Derek Rayner of the methods used to carry out winter maintenance on motorways and trunk roads has been completed; and, if so, in view of the co-operation and help afforded to the study team by the local authority association and their members, when copies of the study report will be made available to those associations as the representative bodies of the Secretary of State's agent authorities.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke:The report of the scrutiny team made a large number of recommendations which are still being studied. The Government immediately accepted two suggestions—that the Department should publish a statement defining the winter maintenance service required on trunk roads and motorways together with a code of practice. These two documents, which have been drawn up with help from the local authority association, will be issued to agent authorities for action this winter. Inbucon, a firm of independent consultants is studying the whole question of recurrent maintenance of trunk roads by agent authorities at our request. I have now asked it to include winter maintenance and the Rayner recommendations as its study. My right hon. Friend's conclusions on the rest of the Rayner report and winter maintenance in general will be announced in due course, In the meantime, copies of the report have been sent to the local authority associations and been placed in the House Library.