Might I suggest you also look at the failure to provide more prison spaces despite predicted and subsequently actualised rises in crime leading to a great many offenders who should be locked up getting "non-custodials"

This is one of their great failings, (and it's a crowded field!)

Also the "cycle to work" scheme is a good one, but take up is poor.

Even portugal has brand new national and regional cycle routes ( paid for by the EU – I believe ). I look forward to the day when man, woman and children a like can safely ride dedicated and purpose built cycle lanes throughout the land ( and not just in London).

It is the best way to travel short distances. Arent most car journeys under 2 miles or something? It is also the most healthiest and greenest way to get around.

I think the civil service will be reluctant to build roads but will be supportive of rail.

The big supply problem is that we will have to close coal fired power stations not because they are too old, but because of the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive. CO2 is not pollution, SOx, NOx and particulates are, but can be addressed with clean burn technology. Combined Heat and Power for district heating systems and industrial use should be implemented where possible. It isn't rocket science.

Could the Minister tell the house how the building of new Natural Gas Storage facilities is progressing? He will be aware that the UK gas storage is only the equivalent of 4% of annual demand. This compared with 19% in Germany and 25% in France? Could he also tell the House, how many projects are stuck in the planning system? Does he further consider that OFGEM has concentrated too much on appeasing tabloid headline writers and not enough on long term system security? http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/UK_EI… .

Has the minister had time to read my letter to him detailing an experiment in the USA for domestic electricity management; http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080110-ele… . Does he agree, that varying the retail price of electricity, throughout the day; to more nearly approximate the cost of supplying electricity; would encourage energy saving and a consequential reduction in CO2 emissions? Has he considered that the current retail pricing structure does not encourage users to spread their consumption into lower generation cost periods of the day? Does he further agree that such a scheme would reduce the amount of “peak lopping” and “spinning reserve”, generating units required on the grid system? [The current n-power trial in the UK just draws a pretty graph of your electricity use]

Does the Minister agree with Oxford University who have calculated that it costs consumers up to £510 for each tonne of CO2 emission avoided through the use of wind turbines; and that the level of subsidy for wind farms is very high and is distorting the market, making it more attractive to invest in this technology than in others, like solar power. Will he, on this occasion, agree with OFGEM, when they say that they calculate that renewable energy subsidies will add £60 to consumer bills this year and that will keep rising? Is it not time to scrap this Renewable Obligation Certificates system? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment…

Order, Order. I have to tell the honorable gentleman that I didn’t understand a bloody word of that; order, Mr. Redwood ………………….

Doing a little brainstorming:

Automated rail.
Automated delivery of goods by rail.
Lighter trains (actually this is John's idea I am nicking).
Build lots of inexpensive reliable nuclear power.
Cut all the regulations/planning commissions/reviews/bureaucracy etc that increase public building prices up to 13 times.
Expand airports.
Provide an interest free bridging loan to any off site manufactured home for the period from completion of manufacture until installation – this would allow investment in mass manufacturing of houses.
Tunnels – the Norwegians have cut hundreds of kms of tunnels at about £7 m a mile – roads to the Isle of wight, Anglesey, the Scots islands & motorways under some cities, underground railways.
Automated monorails – produce a simple proces to allow the building of such above existing roads, without having rates etc charged.
Prizes – X-Prizes for space development, per kilometre awards for monorails or tunnels, X-Prizes for commercial airships etc.

A massive investment in rail would offset some of the investment needed in roads, and vice versa. A big switch to electric cars would increase the need for investment in electricity generation, but reduce the need for investment in new refineries. A big investment in internet capacity might reduce the need for the much overdue investment in local libraries.

Telecoms technology has the potential to tackle wider problems of public ploicy. Road congestion can be mitigated to a degree by Satellite Navigation systems that receive traffic congestion updates through mobile networks. High-speed internet access to the home, supplemented by other emerging technologies such “Telepresence”, will allow more people to avoid the environmentally-damaging commute to the office.

The UK has if anything rather lagged in recent developments, with the pace being set by companies like Fastweb in Italy. 2Mbit/s "broadband" going into half of UK homes is a big improvement on even a decade ago, but the Internet revolution will not be over until we have Gigabit speed Internet running into every home in Africa.