§ Mr. HicksTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends announcing his Department's preferred routes for the A38 trunk road improvement schemes Saltash-Trerulefoot and Liskeard-Bodmin; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WattsThis is an operational matter for the Highways Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Robert Hicks dated 27 October 1994:
792WI have been asked by the Secretary of State for Transport to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the proposed improvement of the A38 trunk road between Saltash and Trerulefoot and betweenthe last year for which figures are available was spent on (a) nursery, (b) primary, (c) secondary and (d) higher and further education; and what were the corresponding figures five, 10 and 15 years ago.
§ Mr. Robin SquireDuring this period the Department's responsibilities have changed. It has previously had responsibility for science, arts, libraries and sport. Responsibility for funding some sectors of education has passed from local education authorities to the Department. The table accordingly provides figures for expenditure on the activities in question, as a proportion of expenditure on education by the Department and by English local authorities. The percentage of expenditure on each sector reflects in part demographic trends, and also the recent rapid growth in participation in higher education. The figures are for England only, with the exception of those figures for further and higher education which include spending on mandatory student awards in Wales. Other figures for Wales, and those for Scotland and Northern Ireland, are the responsibilities of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Liskeard and Bodmin. The timing of the preferred route announcements depends upon the progress of the schemes themselves, which is an operational matter for the Highways Agency.We expect Ministers to be able to announce the preferred routes for both of these schemes in November.The announcement on the Liskeard to Bodmin scheme has had to await detailed consideration of the A38 Action Group's suggestion that the trunk road should be improved along its existing line through the environmentally sensitive Glynn Valley.The Saltash to Trerulefoot scheme is also sensitive. Villagers of Landrake have come out in favour of resurrecting the old route, which passes through a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a proposed Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We have wished to find ways of responding to the concerns that have led them to prefer the old route.Other aspects of this scheme have also given concern to residents, developers and planners, not least its potential effects on the 793W Broadmoor Farm area which the owners and the District Council wish to develop as a business or industrial park. We have wished to ensure that all the concerns that have been expressed as a result of the Public Consultation have been properly understood and taken into account.