asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a statement regarding the present position of the Chester ring road southern section scheme; and when work on this new bypass will commence.

A number of objections have been lodged against the draft order proposing the route for this section of the ring road. We hope to be able to announce a decision on these later this year. Much preparatory work, however, still remains to be done and I can- not yet say when it will be possible to make funds available for the construction of the road.