Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the A38 Somerset road improvement scheme has entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether it will progress into the next strategy phase.

The A38 North Somerset scheme is being promoted by North Somerset Council and Somerset County Council respectively for potential funding under the Department’s Major Road Network/ Large Local Majors (MRN/ LLM) programme. It is not part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy.

Ministers have granted formal approval for the scheme to gain programme entry as part the Department’s MRN/ LLM initiative and the local authorities concerned are currently developing a Full Business Case for this scheme.

Whether the scheme progresses to the next phase will be dependent upon whether the Full Business Case is approved by ministers, subsequent to an assessment and advice from officials.