To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the target date of autumn 1993 for the publication of draft orders under the Highways Act for the A5 Dunstable bypass stated in the letter from the then Minister for Roads and Traffic to the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire of 23 March remains in place.

We hope to publish draft orders next spring. The delay results from a need to examine more fully the environmental impact of the road on the sensitive areas through which it passes. I will write to the hon. Member.