§ 34. Mr. MILLSasked the Minister of Transport if he is now in a position to state when work will commence on the Dartford-Purfleet tunnel; whether the Kent County Council have yet agreed to contribute their quota; and what percentage of the cost is being borne by the county councils and the Government respectively?
§ 33. Mr. OLDFIELDasked the Minister of Transport when it is intended to begin work on the Purfleet-Dartford tunnel; and what is the reason for the delay?
§ Mr. HERBERT MORRISONParticulars as to the quotas payable by various local authorities were given in the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Dartford (Mr. Mills) on the 25th February, of which I am sending a copy to each hon. Member. I have nothing to add to the information then furnished as to the progress of the negotiations. These must run their course and the engineering preparations must be completed before the work can be started.
§ Mr. HOFFMANIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this tunnel was agreed to be projected in 1924?
§ Mr. MORRISONI believe it was approved in principle at that time, but my hon. Friend will appreciate that I was not there between 1924 and 1929.
§ Mr. MILLSCan the right hon. Gentleman answer the last part of Question 34; what percentage of the cost has been borne by the county council and the Government respectively?
§ Mr. MORRISONI gave information as to the contributions coming from outside. I am afraid that I shall require notice of the point mentioned by the hon. Member. The Government grant is quite substantial.