To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the capital spending being brought forward by his Department will be spent on increasing motorway and highway capacity; which schemes will receive funds from this pool; and what increase in capacity he expects will be received by March 2010. (247832)

In November 2008 the Chancellor announced, as part of his pre-Budget report, that £700 million of fiscal stimulus funding was being brought forward by the Department for Transport.

£400 million of this will be used by the Highways Agency in 2009-10 to bring forward high value schemes on the strategic roads network. This includes, subject to completing statutory processes and confirmation of co-funding from the region, bringing forward by two years the start of construction for the scheme to dual the A46 from Newark to Widmerpool. In addition, the funding will allow us to bring forward work to strengthen hardshoulders in advance of the implementation of hard shoulder running as well as other high value structure and asset renewal projects.

The exact schemes that will benefit from the fiscal stimulus is being developed as part of developing the Highways Agency's 2009-10 business plan.