Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr. Carmichael
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cost increases he approved for road schemes in the Highways Agency targeted programme of improvements in each year since 1998.

Dr. Ladyman
Details of Highways Agency major road schemes that have had cost increases approved between 2000 and July 2006 are available in Appendix Two of the National Audit Office report—Department for Transport: Estimating and Monitoring the Costs of Building Roads in England—published on 15 March 2007. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the following website link:

http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/06-07/0607321.pdf

Since July 2006, we have also approved cost increases on the following major road schemes:

A2 Bean—Cobham widening Phase 2

A2/A282 Dartford improvement

M25 J1b-3

A14 Haughley New Street to Stowmarket improvement

A3 Hindhead improvement

A38 Dobwall bypass

A595 Parton to Lillyhall improvement

A46 Newark to Widmerpool

A1 Dishforth to Barton

A1 Bramham to Wetherby (including Wetherby bypass)

A66 Long Newton GSJ

A69 Haydon Bridge bypass

A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton

A57/A628 Mottram—Hollingworth—Tintwhistle

M1 J10-13

A5—M1 Link (Dunstable Northern bypass)

A27 Southerham to Beddingham improvement

M25 J28/A12 Brook Street interchange.