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Mr. Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con): When the regional priorities are identified, is the Minister undertaking to deliver them?
Dr. Ladyman: I have made it clear that the region offers advice, and we do not expect to accept its advice absolutely and always. There may be reasons why the hon. Gentleman himself might not always want us to accept the advice of a region, but to judge it to be flawed—and we have reserved that right. However, we have said that where a region does have a consensual position on which schemes should take the highest priority, and the region and the Government office seem to have done a good job in consulting everybody and taking their views into account, we would certainly pay very strong regard to that advice—and I would be surprised if we deviated very far from it.
In addition to the advice, we are awaiting the inquiry inspector's report on the Southerham to Beddingham stretch. The Highways Agency is also expecting to report back on the consultation on the improvements at Chichester early next year, and a little later it expects to report on its studies at Arundel, Worthing, Selmeston and Wilmington. We will consider the way forward for all those schemes in the light of the advice received from the South East England region about its priorities.
The hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs raised housing as a specific issue, and it was also raised in an intervention. I said that the Highways Agency had been asked to take it into account in its reports back to me. Complementary to that process, the agency is currently working with local authorities as they produce their local development frameworks to ensure that transport issues are fully addressed, and that integrated transport proposals are included in each authority's plan.
In addition to the major improvements, the Highways Agency has a three-year rolling programme of maintenance and smaller-scale improvements to the A27. The agency has just completed modifications to the Stockbridge roundabout on the Chichester bypass, reducing the diameter of the roundabout and improving the approaches, which will improve the flow of traffic through the junction.
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At Worthing, signals have been provided at the Grove Lodge roundabout. I know that there has been some local disquiet since the signals were installed, but early indications are that traffic flow through the junction is better.
Dr. Ladyman: I think that I should give way to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), as he represents part of Worthing.
Tim Loughton: The Minister mentions the traffic changes on the Grove Lodge roundabout. I carried out a survey recently among residents who use that roundabout, and overwhelmingly they say that the changes have increased the problems on that stretch of the A27. If he is saying that they, along with the other roundabout adjustments at Chichester, are his panaceas for the congestion on the A27, he is sorely underestimating the scale of the problem. When was the last time he came down to the A27 in West Sussex and saw it for himself?
Dr. Ladyman: The word "panacea" never passed my lips. Those small-scale schemes are simply some short-term measures by which we are trying to improve things while we try to move forward on the wider agenda that all the Opposition Members here are keen to promote.
Mr. Tyrie:
Does the Minister realise that the idea that the changes to the Stockbridge roundabout will improve
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the situation whereby a large chunk of my constituency is effectively cut off every day by a huge traffic jam almost an hour long leading into Chichester will be greeted by my constituents with a hollow laugh? What we need is some real road improvements.
Dr. Ladyman: I do not deny the possibility that the hon. Gentleman's constituency may need some major road improvements. My point is that we are making some short-term improvements while we work out the way forward. That is a not unreasonable position to take. We have made several short-term improvements throughout the area.
The proposals and the major road improvements, which have been backed by significant investment, are an indication of the Government's policy of trying to develop sustainable solutions to the transport problems of the south coast corridor. I understand the need for economic regeneration and accessibility to those towns and I understand the frustration of the constituents of the hon. Gentlemen opposite. I undertake to do my best to keep the issues moving forward—[Interruption.] I will, as the hon. Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley) suggests, ask whether it is a good thing that we do this and, if so, on what time scale and how fast can we get on with it. If we can make a case, if the scheme is value for money and if the region agrees that it is among its priorities for progress, I am confident that we can get this sorted out—unlike the Government of whom he was a member.
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