§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what criteria his Department uses for the approval of bypasses. [9664]
§ Mr. JamiesonAll bids for new schemes whether bypasses or other classes of scheme are assessed using the New Approach to Appraisal developed during the Roads Review in 1998. NATA is based on the five criteria that underlie our transport policies: environmental impact, safety, economy, accessibility and integration. NATA favours no particular class of scheme nor is it our policy to give special preference to bypasses, although I fully recognise the environmental benefits which such schemes can bring about.