To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the status, programming, funding and timetabling of the proposed by-pass of Wrentham, on the A12 in Suffolk.

Wrentham by-pass forms part of my Department's proposals for the A12, Saxmundham by-pass to the Lowestoft widening scheme, which was included in the report "Trunk Roads, England: Into the 1990s" published earlier this year. The design commission for part of the scheme including a by-pass of Wrentham, has been awarded by the Department to Suffolk county council. Council staff will carry out preliminary investigation of the options for a dual carriageway by-pass before the public are consulted next year. Announcement of a preferred route will follow. Timing of construction will be dependent on the completion of the remaining statutory procedures and the availability of funds.