§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the possible hiving off of any new "roads procurement agency" (as reported in The Times 19th July 1993) from the Department of Transport will leave with the department the responsibility for appraisal of the "combined and cumulative impacts" of all road schemes, for "explicit" consideration of all "public transport alternatives" (which the Government undertook at paragraph 16.06, p.9, in their Response to the Report of the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment of March 1992) and for "ensuring closer integration between transport and land use planning" (paragraph 16.16, p.9) of the same; and whether such a hiving off would contribute to the sustainable development to which the Government are understood to be committed.
The Earl of CaithnessWe announced our decision to set up the Highways Agency on 5 August 1993. However, the Agency will remain part of the Department of Transport. Its creation will not affect government commitments to sustainable development or the follow-up to the report by the Standing Committee on Trunk Road Assessment.