§ Mr. PollardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action his Department is taking to improve the transport infrastructure in the St. Albans constituency. [128893]
§ Mr. HillIn last December's Local Transport Plan Financial Settlement Hertfordshire County Council received a total block allocation of £9,467,000. This consisted of £5,000,000 for integrated transport, an increase of 19 per cent. from the previous year, and £4,467,000 for maintenance and bridges, an increase of 83 per cent. from the previous year reflecting the poor condition of some of the County's roads.
It is of course for the County Council to decide how this funding should be used and which schemes to promote and we must leave these local projects to the responsible authorities to develop in conjunction with local partners and interests. The local transport plan process emphasises the need to work with the full range of transport providers, businesses, communities and interest groups.
Hertfordshire County Council will be submitting their full Local Transport Plan in July and I understand that they will be including an Area Plan for mid Bedfordshire. Within this is a programme of improvements for St. Albans which includes, among other elements, improving bus infrastructure, cycling and pedestrian facilities.