§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much has 387W been spent by his Department on landscaping, horticulture and tree planting on motorway verges in each of the last four years. [159201]
§ Mr. PrescottI have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Richard Thorndike to Mr. Archie Norman, dated 11 May 2001:
The Secretary of State for the Environment Transport and the Regions has asked the Chief Executive, Tim Matthews to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about spending on landscaping, horticulture and tree planting on motorway verges. I am replying in the absence of Tim Matthews.Responsibility for landscaping, horticulture and tree planting on the motorway and trunk road network in England rests with the Highways Agency. Because of the way our records are kept, we cannot readily separate spending on the motorway network from spending on the trunk road network.The table below therefore shows total spend recorded on all landscaping, horticulture and tree planting across the network. This includes significant expenditure associated with the environmental treatment of major new schemes, expenditure on the maintenance of existing landscaping and on schemes aimed at supporting the UK's biodiversity strategy, which aims to protect and encourage the diversity of plants and animals. This is in line with the Government policy to reduce the environmental impact of roads, which was one of the major aims of the 1998 Roads Review "A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England".The A34 Newbury Bypass was completed in 1998/99, with its substantial environmental treatment contributing to the overall spend in that year.
£ million Year Spend 1997–98 7.4 1998–99 35.5 1999–2000 29.3 2000–01 21.4