Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue
with the Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020–2025; and what are
their plans for the road network.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport ( of Richmond Hill) (Lab)
My Lords, the second road investment strategy is being delivered
by National Highways and runs until 31 March 2025. The strategy
covers the day-to-day running of the network, continuing
operations, maintenance and renewals and the delivery of schemes
and construction. Our plans for the future of the road network
will be informed by the spending review and by the review of the
department's capital spend portfolio commissioned by my right
honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport.
(Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. Does he
accept that a substantial chunk of this budget ought to be spent
on repairing the roads we already have, rather than building new
ones? Will he consider allocating more funds from this budget to
public transport, particularly to our bus network, in view of his
recent welcome announcements about bus franchising? Finally, if
there is anything left over, could he put it towards the enormous
deficit left by the party opposite when in government?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I thank my noble friend. In the current circumstances, he is a
bit optimistic about having any money left. Of course, a
substantial amount of the road investment strategy 2 money is, in
fact, spent on the operation, maintenance and renewal of the
national highways network. The review of the capital spend
portfolio embraces all the modes of transport the department is
responsible for, so there will be the opportunity to choose the
best schemes that deliver the most for growth, jobs and
housing.
(Con)
Can the noble Lord confirm the singularly ill-conceived and
unbelievably expensive plan to tunnel under Stonehenge to avoid
congestion on the A303, when there is plenty of open land
immediately to the south of that single carriageway?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I can confirm that, following the Chancellor's Statement and a
review of the Treasury's spending audit, which identified more
than £2.9 billion-worth of unfunded transport spend this year,
the scheme for the A303 at Stonehenge will no longer go
ahead.
(Con)
My Lords, can the noble Lord say what progress has been made with
constructing the new junction for the A3 and the M25, when he
expects it to be complete and what he expects it to cost?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I do not have the precise answer to that question, so I will be
delighted to write to the noble Lord to clarify the questions he
asked.
My Lords, the answers we have had so far, which are welcome,
refer to future strategy in terms of economics and finance, but
there is another element that this Government have built into
their programme, which is making long-term decisions. Is any
future road strategy being looked at holistically in relation to
public transport development? They cannot run in separate
grooves.
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The way the road investment strategy works is that the
Infrastructure Act 2015 requires a road investment strategy—known
as RIS to the initiated—to be set. As I said, this strategy
expires in March 2025. We might normally have expected to see the
publication of a draft road investment strategy 3, for the five
years beyond 2025, published by the previous Government, but in
fact it was not. We are now required to do that and the
Government will, in due course, do just that. It is stand- alone,
but it must be recognised that the department, which is
responsible for all modes of transport, including public
transport, will have to consider how it spends both its capital
and its revenue in the best way to achieve the targets of growth,
jobs and housing.
(LD)
My Lords, more than a fifth of the UK's emissions come from
surface transport, primarily from fossil fuel vehicles, so if
this new Government value the future of our planet and the health
of our nation, they will reconsider road-building plans. I am
pleased to hear what the Minister said about that. Will he agree
that the priority for government spending on roads should first
be with the £20 billion backlog of road repairs, which makes our
crumbling roads very dangerous at the moment, in order to put
safety first? Will he commit to the completion of the ongoing
programme to bring so-called smart motorways up to an acceptable
safety standard?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The point about emissions and the environment will be covered by
the capital spend portfolio review. I think potholes are a major
part of what the noble Baroness referred to. The state of the
roads is pretty disgraceful, and the Government are committed to
doing far more on filling potholes and making roads safe than the
previous Government. There will be no more smart motorways, and
my understanding is that the programme to modify those already
installed will be completed.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord's admission that road
transport contributes to growth, jobs and housing, but when one
looks throughout the country, wherever the Labour Party is in
power, be it in Wales, London or many local authorities, one sees
increasing costs and restrictions being imposed on the motorist,
many of them felt most deeply by working people who are
struggling to make ends meet. Does his welcome statement today
about the value of road transport mean that Labour's war on the
motorist is now at an end?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
If the objective is economic growth, jobs and housing—I am
pleased that the noble Lord agrees—we should choose those
transport projects that contribute the most to it in various
parts of the country. I have a wry smile because he was the
deputy chair of Transport for London when I was the commissioner,
and between us we probably removed more road space from the
streets of central London for a Conservative mayor, so I am not
sure that this alleged war on motorists is quite as one-sided as
he might suppose. It is very important that the highways are
managed in the best way possible because transport is a
facilitator of growth, jobs and housing. The projects that we are
able to choose to fund in these difficult circumstances should
always be the ones that deliver the most in those categories.
(Lab)
My Lords, filling in potholes is a temporary measure. On many of
our roads, the substructure has gone because of a lack of
investment over many years, especially under the last Government.
Are the Government trying to do something about the long-term
state of our roads?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I agree with the noble Lord that filling potholes is a temporary
measure. It is a shorthand for having the roads in better
condition. I could bore the House with how the condition of roads
is measured, but I will not. Filling potholes is a temporary
measure; we are using that phrase to seek to improve the general
condition of roads for the safety of all road users.
of Drumlean (Con)
My Lords, will the noble Lord take this opportunity to rule out
introducing road pricing as part of the Government's plans to
increase the tax burden on this country?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
There are no plans for road pricing. Indeed, to clarify what I
thought I said on Monday to the noble Lord, , there are no plans for the
withdrawal, reduced eligibility or means testing of the English
national concessionary fares scheme, commonly known as the
freedom pass.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord to his role. I worked with him
at City Hall all those years ago, and we worked on smoothing
traffic flow in London to improve journey time reliability and
help motorists, especially as we knew that autonomous vehicles,
electric vehicles and mass-person mobility would be a key part of
the public mix in future. Will he look at that as he looks to the
future of the road network?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The noble Lord recalls the project to smooth traffic. A key
element of that is the use of modern technology in managing
traffic signals. The Government are enthusiastic for the use of
modern technology. For too long, not enough modern technology has
been used in the control of traffic signals, and we will
endeavour to use the latest technology to improve the flow of
traffic for all road users.
