Departmental Projects Chris Grayling To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which projects valued at more than £100 million are under consideration by his Department. Gillian Merron Schemes that have received an initial approval to proceed to the preferred option stage, which is equivalent to the Office of Government Commerce’s Gateway Review 1, are listed as follows, apart from the local authority schemes stated that are being assessed for this approval. Schemes that have passed the approvals stage equivalent to Gateway Review 3, which gives approval for contracts to be signed and construction to begin, are also omitted, as they are no longer under consideration. The following projects have received initial funding approval, but have yet to start construction, and cost in excess of £100 million. They are in development or procurement, but are not all under active consideration by the Department at this stage. The first four are referred to in the 6 July 2006 letter from the Secretary of State to the relevant Regional Assembly and Regional Development Agency on regional funding allocations. Mersey Gateway Bridge Carlisle Northern Development Route Manchester Metrolink Phase IIIA Manchester Metrolink Renewals on Phases 1 and 2 Nottingham Light Rail Phase II—referred to in a statement to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State on 25 October 2006. Thames Gateway Bridge—referred to on the TfL website Birmingham Highway Maintenance—referred to in the West Midlands Local Transport Plan 2006 The Department is currently assessing the following local authority schemes for an initial Government approval to proceed to the preferred option stage. South East Manchester Relief Road Finningley and Rossington Relief Road (Doncaster) Birmingham Gateway (New Street Station improvements) Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramway Upgrade Heysham to M6 Link Road (Lancashire) Tyne and Wear Metro Reinvigoration All six of the schemes listed above are referred to in the 6 July 2006 letter from the Secretary of State to the relevant Regional Assembly and Regional Development Agency on regional funding allocations. The Department is currently preparing the high level output specification for the safety, reliability and capacity it expects on the rail network for the years 2009-10 to 2013-14. This document will be published in July 2007, and is likely to contain many rail projects that cost in excess of £100 million. In particular, the Department continues to take forward the Thameslink programme, and has stated that it is considering when and how to proceed with it in conjunction with the high level output specification and the Spending Review. The Department is also continuing to take forward Crossrail, a Bill for which is currently being considered by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. In addition, the Department has given initial funding approval to proceed to the preferred option stage of the Intercity Express programme. The following projects appear in the Highways Agency's programme, and have yet to start construction. All of these are referred to in the Highways Agency’s Business Plan 2007-08. M25 J5-7 Widening M25J16-23 M25J23-27 M25J27-30 M1 J10-13 Widening M1J19 M1 J21-30 M1 J30 to J31 M1J32 to J34 M1J34 to J37 M1 J37 to J39 M1 J39 to J42 A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton Improvement A505 Dunstable Northern Bypass (A5 to M1 link) A1 Dishforth to Barton A46 Newark to Widemerpool Improvement M62 J25 to J27 National Road Telecommunication Services A57/A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle Bypass A421 Bedford to M1 Junction 13 In addition to these, the Highways Agency’s programme includes the A30 Garland Cross to Chiverton Cross scheme, which is not currently expected to be funded in the next ten years, following advice received from the South West region. The A303 Stonehenge scheme is under review. A further project is being led by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which issued a press release in May on the Search and Rescue Helicopters scheme being undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Defence.