Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the concerns of his constituents. Local authorities have a vital role to play; they are responsible for introducing road safety measures appropriate to their areas. Of course, the Department is responsible for legislation and the guidance to help them to do so. I continue to engage with local authorities to ensure we are providing them with the support they need to make our roads safer.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to help maintain roads.

[Luke Murphy (Basingstoke) (Lab)]

7. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)]

The Government are determined to help local authorities in England to tackle the highways maintenance backlog that is the result of a decade of under-investment by the previous Government. We are making an immediate start by providing an extra £500 million next year—an increase of nearly 50% compared with the current financial year.

[John Lamont]

The A1 is a vital road link for the Scottish Borders and Scotland to the rest of the United Kingdom, and Labour’s decision to scrap much-needed improvements will harm the local economy and stop businesses investing in jobs. The local Labour MP, the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), has said he was “disappointed and frustrated” by the decision of his Labour colleagues. What do the Labour Government have against car drivers and truck users on roads in rural Scotland?

[Heidi Alexander]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we have nothing against car drivers and truck users. We appreciate the long-standing local desire for dualling the A1 from Morpeth to Ellingham, but I am sorry to say that in the assessment we carried out post the general election, it represented poor value for money. There have been several delays to the development consent order decision and the contractors were decommissioned more than two years ago. In that time, scheme costs have risen significantly, making the scheme even less affordable and further worsening the value for money. Having said that, I recognise that there are safety issues on the existing route, which we will need to look at carefully, as we would with any other part of the network. However, that alone does not warrant the dualling scheme.