Cheryl Gillan
Main Page: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)Department Debates - View all Cheryl Gillan's debates with the Department for Transport
(7 years, 1 month ago)
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Several hon. Members rose—
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. Before I call the next speaker, I am minded to put a limit of five minutes on speeches. I am not going to do that at this stage; I am just going to ask people to exercise some self-denial, bearing in mind that 13 or 14 Members want to speak. I would be grateful if Members kept standing if they wish to contribute to the debate.
Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)
Prioritisation is very important, but, moving away from Highways England, does the hon. Lady agree that local authorities find it difficult to allocate funds to produce feasibility studies and business cases to move projects forward? There has been a problem in my constituency with moving forward the York outer northern ring road, which is regularly congested—many constituents call it a car park. Does the hon. Lady agree that if the bypass fund is properly targeted, it might allow local authorities to move some of those long-term projects forward?
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. May I remind Members that interventions should be short?
Lilian Greenwood
I will come on to the role of local authorities, but there needs to be certainty about costs and affordability.
To return to the national network, there was a clear case for ending spending on removing the hard shoulder from more than 500 motorway lane miles. Those proposals were taken forward despite an inadequate evidence base, safety fears, concerns from the emergency services, and drivers’ unwillingness to use the former hard shoulder lane, as evidenced by Atkins’ recent review, which the Department commissioned.
It was reported last week that the Transport Secretary has ordered changes to the roll-out of the scheme, including the fitting of more refuge areas. Will the Minister confirm that those reports are accurate? If so, will there be a formal statement to the House? What is the expected cost of those changes? The Transport Committee raised that issue and suggested that
“the proposed schemes be replaced by schemes based on the M42 Active Traffic Management design.”
It may be slow, but we know it will be safer.
The priority for many drivers is the fixing of damaged local roads, not the strategic network. Potholes do not just impair the quality of driving, extend journey times and damage vehicles; they are a real safety risk for drivers and cyclists. Everyone is a road user, so tackling the poor condition of our local roads should be a national priority.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. Twelve colleagues have indicated that they would like to speak. That will be difficult so I am again appealing for contributions to be kept short, because I would like to get in as many as possible.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. I will call Layla Moran next, but as I have nine colleagues standing I will put on a time limit of about three minutes, and maybe even less, if people cannot keep their contributions short.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. I am going to put on a time limit of three minutes.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (in the Chair)
Order. If hon. Members can keep their remarks to two minutes, we may get everyone in.
Jesse Norman
The fact of the matter is that this is twice as much money as the last Labour Government put in, and that should be recognised. To fail to do so is, frankly, to insult our motorists—to insult the people who use these roads.
If one looks down the list, it is perfectly true that the National Audit Office has talked about a degree of over-programming. It has also praised the significant improvement in the road investment strategy, and I think rightly so. The NAO report should indeed acknowledge what is well known in transport circles, which is that there is always a bit of over-programming in these things; not all these schemes arise, in terms of public investment, at the same time. An over-programming of 7%, which is what it amounts to, is not substantial. Where there are bottlenecks, undoubtedly we as a Department will be looking at them.
Let me turn now to some of the specific points. I absolutely welcome the points made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert). I can confirm that construction will begin this year, as he has requested, on the A27.