---

A3 (Hindhead)

: I was indeed about to come to that. It is not for me to offer meetings with the Secretary of State and it would not normally be for the Secretary of State to have a meeting on this matter. I am the roads Minister and the advice to the Secretary of State will come through me. I can offer to have a meeting with the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend to discuss the details. However, before deciding on the timing of such a meeting, we need to ensure that we are following appropriate protocol, because I am in the process of reviewing the inspector's report and making decisions on the scheme. I would not want to do anything that got us into legal conflict, but, in principle, I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend to go through the issues. However, I assure him that the issues are well understood. The project has been hatching for 20 years so I suspect that there is little that he or my hon. Friend can tell the Department about the scheme, its complexities and importance that we have not come across. If it will help them, however, I am happy to have a meeting with them to discuss it.