Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Double Excerpts

Thursday 19th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

18. What steps he is taking to improve the condition of local roads.

[The Minister for Transport Legislation and Maritime (Mr John Hayes)]

All the Christmases are coming together, Mr Speaker.

My hon. Friend will be pleased that we announced in July that we were awarding Cornwall County Council £5 million in addition to its normal funding towards a project that will target carriageway treatments to improve the quality and longevity of 53 sites on Cornwall’s rural roads. All works will be completed by April 2018.

[Steve Double]

I thank the Minister for that answer, but in rural areas such as Cornwall it is important to maintain not just the condition of the road surface but the verges and overhanging trees in particular. I recently visited a local bus company, Roselyn Coaches, which is spending many thousands of pounds a year repairing its buses because of damage caused by overhanging trees. Does the Minister agree that local authorities such as Cornwall County Council must use their powers to cut back trees and keep our buses running?

[Mr Hayes]

As I said in my first answer, we are doing our bit. My hon. Friend is assiduous in keeping Cornwall County Council on its toes. It is its responsibility to ensure that carriageways are properly cared for in the way he described, and it is not easy to keep such a flat-footed Lib Dem council on its toes.