§ Mr. Roger Kingasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the procedure to be adopted when a motorway contraflow system is removed, including recommended time of day and instructions given to police and contractors to ensure that normal traffic flow is unimpeded; and whether this procedure was carried out on Monday 4 November between the hours of 6 am and 9 am on the southbound carriageway of junction 14 of the M1.
§ Mrs. ChalkerDetailed guidance on the removal of motorway contraflow systems is set out in notes for guidance relating to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as affecting personnel working on motorways and trunk roads, produced jointly by my Department and the County Surveyors' Society. A copy of the latest edition of these notes, published in August this year, is in the Library. In the case quoted by my hon. Friend, the contract specified the permitted times of day for removing the contra-flow in order to minimise delays to traffic. On the morning of 4 November, the contraflow should have been cleared by 6 am, but took longer than anticipated.