I look forward to seeing that business case when it comes forward, and I will of course be happy to discuss it with the hon. Member at the appropriate time.

The Minister may be aware that the outline business case for improvements to the A31 at Hickley’s Corner in Farnham will come before her in a couple of months’ time. While I understand that she cannot make any promises now, will she at least agree to look kindly on that application and meet me to discuss it?

Removal of roadworks equipment comes under Section 74 of the New Roads and Street Works Act. The Act enables local highway authorities to charge utility companies for delays in completing roadworks on public highways, and since 2001 regulations have been in place which allow local highway authorities to impose charges on statutory undertakers. Every job has an end date and if works or barriers are still on site past this end date, daily charges can be imposed. These charges start at £250 a day, and on the busiest roads go up to £10,000 a day.

The Department does not hold any information on the number of reports or complaints of abandoned roadworks equipment, only local highway authorities have that information.

The A3, A31 and A331 form part of the Strategic Road Network. As such, National Highways is responsible for installing, maintaining, cleaning, and repairing signage on these roads. Damaged and incorrect road signage on any of these roads can be reported to National Highways at the following link: https://report.nationalhighways.co.uk/

National Highways maintains records of reports and complaints submitted via its online platform, including issues relating to road signage and other highway assets on the Strategic Road Network. The Department does not hold disaggregated data, but National Highways may be able to provide the number of reports concerning abandoned or incorrect equipment on the A3, A31 and A331 upon request.

National Highways has been working with the applicant and their transport consultants for some time to resolve questions with this development. National Highways requested further information on 8 December 2022, which is still outstanding, as well as clarification of a number of other points.

The government does not regularly collect this information. As part of the National Survey of Lorry Parking, published in September 2022, the utilisation level for Brocks Pine, A31, Ringwood, Hampshire was at 50% (8 HGVs and a total capacity of 16). This is a one-off snapshot (one Thursday night in March 2022) taken from the overnight audits completed. No further information is held.

National Highways will be maintaining the pedestrian access between the Verwood Junction and West Street during construction works. The footway and the site area will be separated by fencing and boarding to ensure pedestrian safety. Any construction activities that require closure of the footway will be for short durations and, where possible, will be completed overnight and well publicised in advance.

In recent years, Highways England has been in contact with the Verderers of the New Forest, New Forest District Council, Forestry Commission and Hampshire County Council to determine responsibility for maintenance of the cattle grids around the A31. Highways England maintains the grids that it is responsible for, which are positioned within its boundary line of the A31 highway. Highways England is committed to future engagement with all local stakeholders, and happy to participate in any subsequent meetings on this issue.

As my hon. Friend will be aware, we have invested heavily in the A303. We have been looking closely at the A358 corridor and upgrading the A30, so I will absolutely discuss further with him the particular road he has in mind.

I acknowledge the Secretary of State’s work to reduce congestion in the south-west, but may I urge him to look specifically at increasing capacity and reducing congestion on the A31 in Dorset?

Last December the Department launched a consultation on ‘Proposals for the creation of a Major Road Network’ which closed on 19th March 2018.

Proposals included dedicating a portion of the National Roads Fund to invest in bypasses, road widening and other road improvements on the Major Road Network.

A formal consultation response will be published during summer 2018 prior to the launch of the Major Road Network (MRN) programme before the end of the year.

Once launched, it will be for the relevant local authority, working with other regional partners, to make the case for MRN funding for particular schemes. In the case of the proposed Hickleys Corner underpass on the A31 in Farnham, the relevant local authority is Surrey County Council.

Highways England have advised me that they have not received an application for the erection of a destination sign post from the A31 to Braeside Village Hall from St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council.

If the council would like to make an application for a brown tourist sign, they should contact Highways England’s customer contact centre, via their website.

The Department publishes Average Annual Daily Flow (AADF) data for each major road link, for every year. Traffic is counted at two points (links) on the A31, in the vicinity of Four Marks; at Count Point No. 18707 (between its junction with the B3047 and its junction with Barn Lane), and at Count Point No. 46341 (between Barn Lane and its junction with the A32).

The AADFs for these Count Points, for 2010, 2011 and 2012 are shown in the following table:

The most recent counts at the two links on the A31 took place on: 6 April 2011 (Count Point 18707), and 22 March 2010 (Count Point 46341).

The Department publishes statistics on average speeds on local ‘A' roads in England during the weekday morning peak (7 am to 10 am). These are available on the Department's website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/congestion-statistics-on-local-a-roads-england-oct-to-dec-2013

Speeds for the A31 road section, in Hampshire for each direction are presented as annual averages from the year ending July 2007 to the year ending December 2013. This road section includes A31 section at Four Marks. Across the last three years, annual average speeds for the A31 (in Hampshire) were broadly stable at around 50 mph in each direction.

The Highways Agency has had discussions with Dorset County Council and agreed that the County Council will undertake work to the pavements at the junction of St Leonards Hospital with the A31 to facilitate access by mobility scooters, wheelchairs and pushchairs. The County Council will prepare a scheme for delivery by March 2014 in partnership with St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council.

[holding answer 25 February 2013]: The Highways Agency has no plans to install dropped kerbs at the junction of the A31 with the disused entrance to St Leonard's Hospital. Funding was not allocated in this financial year (2012-13).

While the agency remains committed to its obligations under the Equalities Act, current funding necessitates that this type of work is more likely to be done when incorporated within larger schemes. Unfortunately, no larger schemes are currently planned and funded for this section of the A31.

At the junction of the A31 with the current hospital access, work is required to install one set of dropped kerbs. This is the responsibility of the NHS as it is situated on their land and as such, the agency is unaware whether this work is planned.

[holding answer 25 February 2013]: The distance between the planned works on the A31 junction at Ashley Heath for the lorry park and St Leonards Hospital is too great to include the dropped kerb work at minimal additional cost and as such, this work could not be incorporated if funded.

The final cost of the A31 Canford Bottom Junction Improvement scheme is still be determined, as there are ongoing negotiations to agree the final account. The current estimate is £10 million. The assessment of the factors causing a change in costs include reducing the time local roads were closed, diversion of uncharted utility services (not belonging to the agency), inclement weather and adverse ground conditions, which were not as predicted.

At the request of local representatives, additional assessments were undertaken to reduce potential impacts of the improvement at the A31 Canford Bottom junction on local businesses, both during the planning of the scheme and during its construction.

Extensive dialogue was undertaken with the local business community through the Wimborne Business Forum, which was convened at the beginning of the project. All members of the business community were invited and regularly attended a monthly forum chaired by the agency. A successful outcome of the forum was the detailed planning of the local road closures which the agency then announced to all local businesses and the wider community, via the agency's website and press releases. No assessment has been or will be made of business impact following the opening of the scheme. The scheme evaluation will be undertaken a minimum of 12 months after its opening but does not include the impact on local businesses. This is known as a Post

Opening Project Evaluation and compares the scheme costs, benefits and other impacts predicted at the appraisal (pre-construction) stage with the ‘outturn’ effects (after completion). Further details are available on the Highways Agency website at:

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/18348.aspx

Small business premises are an example of the type of property that can claim compensation under part I of the Land Compensation Act 1973. This compensation can be claimed by those who own and also occupy the property, if certain criteria are met and their property has been reduced in value by more than £50 by physical factors caused by the use of a new or altered road. Further details are available on the Highways Agency website at:

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/28533.aspx

The assessment of the effectiveness of the A31 Canford Bottom junction improvement scheme will be undertaken 12 months after the completion of the scheme under the Post Opening Project Evaluation. This is in line with current practice for all road safety and congestion improvements that the Highways Agency undertakes.

Post Opening Project Evaluation compares the costs, benefits and other impacts predicted at the appraisal (pre-construction) stage with the ‘outturn’ effects (after completion). The effects that were thought to be when we made the decision to build the scheme are compared with what was found to happen after the scheme opened. Details are available on the agency website at:

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/18348.aspx

The Post Opening Project Evaluation will also analyse the design prediction that the scheme will provide improved journey times for 10 years after opening, before growth in traffic volumes results in an increase in congestion to levels before the improvement. This scheme primarily aimed to increase the capacity and throughput of traffic on the A31 and provide optimal traffic movements to improve journey times at the junction and improve road safety rather than reducing traffic.

During the period of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, no evidence or issues were received by the Highways Agency to raise significant concerns regarding road safety or congestion at the A31 Canford Bottom junction.

I am pleased to confirm that the brown tourism sign for Wimborne Minster will be reinstated as part of the A31 Canford Bottom junction improvement scheme.