§ 39. Mr. Headasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether, in view of the considerable delays and consequent loss of time to industry caused by three simultaneous areas of road repair in the bottleneck of Slough, he is satisfied that these repairs should proceed at normal hours of work and should not be treated as emergency repairs.
§ Mr. HeadOn a point of order. I wish to point out, Mr. Speaker, that the 1213 name "Slough" should have been "Staines". Perhaps the error was due to my own bad handwriting.
§ Mr. NugentI am afraid I am not able to answer the Question to suit.
No road repairs are at present in progress on the trunk or Class I roads in Slough.
§ Mr. HeadAbout a fortnight ago, I had a written reply saying that the road repairs at Staines were being done at normal repair rates. Is not the loss of time that this bottleneck causes to industry such that it would immensely pay the economy to have the work done at urgent rates instead of normal rates?
§ Mr. NugentMy right hon. Friend will, I think, find that the arrangements we have made there will adequately meet the traffic needs.
§ Mr. HeadNo, they will not; that is the whole point. The arrangement at Staines is for normal rates. I felt that it should be at emergency rates.