HC Deb 30 July 1930 vol 242 cc488-9
54. Mr. GOULD

asked the Minister of Transport whether the road schemes known as the Bromley-Stanton Drew and the Lower Clutton, which were sent by the Clutton Rural District Council to the Somerset County Council, have been received and considered by his Department?

Mr. HERBERT MORRISON

Application was made to my Department for a grant from the Road Fund towards the cost of the road schemes to which my hon. Friend refers. The schemes were not considered to be suitable for a grant from the Road Fund, and it was suggested to the rural district council that they should make application to the Unemployment Grants Committee for financial assistance.

Mr. GOULD

Can my hon. Friend say whether the county council has agreed with that suggestion, arid whether such application has been made?

Mr. MORRISON

I have not, so far, been able to ascertain whether an application has been made.

55. Mr. GOULD

asked the Minister of Transport whether certain road schemes in the Coleford district proposed by the Frome Rural District Council, which have been submitted to the Somerset County Council, have been received and considered by his Department?

Mr. MORRISON

No road schemes in the Coleford district have been submitted to my Department since April, 1929.

Mr. GOULD

Is my hon. Friend aware that an application was made by the Frome Rural District Council on behalf of this district, where there is a great volume of unemployment and no scheme has yet been adopted; and will he make representations to the county council of Somerset?

Mr. MORRISON

An application may have been made by the rural district council to the county council, but it could not be made to me. An application to me must come through the county council. I am not anxious to intervene in disputes between county councils and rural district councils.

Mr. GOULD

If it is competent for the Minister to urge, through local conferences, the need for relief schemes, would it not be competent for his Department to make representations to the county council?

Mr. MORRISON

It may be so. If my hon. Friend writes to me telling me the circumstances, it may be that I can communicate his letter to the county council and get a copy of the reply; but that is a very different thing from my intervening in what may be a dispute between the county council and the rural district council.

Mr. GOULD

There is no dispute.