HC Deb 29 October 1957 vol 575 cc13-5
29. Mr. Malcolm MacMillan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the value and mileage of road of works completed or started under the Crofter Counties road programme between 1945 and 1951 throughout the Outer Hebrides; and what works directly under this scheme have been started between May, 1951, and May, 1957, in this area.

Mr. N. Macpherson

I shall, with permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT detailed information about all the Crofter County schemes in the Outer Hebrides started between 1945 and 1957.

Mr. MacMillan

Will the Joint Under-Secretary kindly say whether he can answer the second part of the Question now?

Mr. Macpherson

If the hon. Gentleman will study the Answer, he will find that only one scheme was started before 1950 and no schemes were completed before 1953.

Mr. MacMillan

Is the reply much the same as it was as regards houses, that nothing has been done about Crofter Counties scheme roads since 1951?

Mr. Macpherson

The answer is that none of these schemes were completed before 1953 and reconstruction has been started in 1956 and 1957.

Following is the information:

Hebrides, and what was the estimated cost in 1951.

Mr. N. Macpherson

The estimated cost of building the North Ford Causeway, based on the accepted tender, is £452,000. In 1949, when a preliminary survey was carried out by the consultants, they estimated the cost roughly at £160,000.

Mr. MacMillan

Has the Joint Under-Secretary yet managed to draw the glaring conclusion that, as with housing, roads and everything else, it is sheer folly to put off transport schemes of this kind where they are essential and where costs have been trebled through the folly of so-called economies?

Mr. Macpherson

The figures are not really comparable. The original survey was only a preliminary one. The design of the causeway and bridges has had to be modified as a result of trial borings and investigations into the effect of the tides.