Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a speech about the spending review in Parliament but there was no news on the A38 scheme announced today. However there was welcome news on rail and tram investment and the bus fare £3 cap will remain.

The proposed expansion of the A38 through Derby is outdated, costly, and damaging.

The quarter of a billion (though likely more) budgeted for the A38 expansion could instead be invested in smart, sustainable alternatives that reduce congestion, improve public health, and meet our climate obligations.

Even if the A38 survives this review, construction can’t start until after the Full Business Case is signed off—and National Highways confirmed via FOI that won’t happen until June 2026.

So, if Wednesday brings bad news, it’s not the end of the road. We’ll keep up the pressure to scrap the scheme and shift the money to sustainable transport instead.

As the Labour Government seeks to make more cuts to public spending, it's more important than ever to tell them to scrap destructive and low value road schemes like the A38 expansion in their infrastructure spending review. 

The new government has cancelled several road schemes, including the controversial Stonehenge project, to address a public spending deficit left by the previous Government. This is a good step, and we hope it leads to more focus on sustainable transport projects instead.

Our case against the polluting and destructive A38 expansion is in court today.

After a successful legal challenge in 2021, we believe the transport minister acted unlawfully again by approving the scheme with an outdated economic assessment.

In a collective effort to draw attention to the threatened 300-year-old oak tree, local residents and professional artists gathered to draw attention to what the proposed A38 road expansion will destroy.

On Wednesday the 20th Dec 2023 at The Royal Courts of Justice, Mrs Justice Jefford granted the case permission to go to trial after hearing arguments from both Richard Buxton Solicitors representing the Stop the A38 Expansion campaign group and the defendants, the Department for Transport and National Highways.

Evidence shows that investment in roads does not always increase economic activity or spreads opportunity across the UK or that these benefits could not be achieved by other means.

Road investment is not the best way to support local economies, and the evidence about the effect of road schemes on economic growth is less strong than is sometimes assumed by policy makers.

We have been busy preparing for another legal challenge to stop this polluting, destructive and unnecessary road scheme. Our lawyers sent the pre-action protocol letter outlining five grounds for a legal challenge which the Secretary of State has 12 days to respond to.

News on the A38 expansion and the Government’s attempts to weaken environmental laws and stop future legal challenges.

The latest IPCC report stated that any further delay in global action to cut carbon pollution “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” Yet National Highways are trying to claim that Net Zero carbon targets do not apply to their polluting and destructive road building.