§ 30. Mr. Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Transport if he is satisfied that the supply of highway and traffic engineers is adequate to meet the needs of the increasing number of vehicles on the roads and the expanding road programme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayThe supply will depend to some extent on the opportunities available. We are discussing with the local authority associations the need for encouraging local authorities to employ additional engineers, particularly on traffic engineering. We are satisfied that the universities and colleges of technology can meet the demand.
§ Mr. BossomWhile thanking my hon. Friend for that Answer, may I ask him if he does not agree that the recruiting of these highly-trained personnel is going far too slowly? At this stage we should have several thousand. In fact we have only a few hundred. Can my hon. Friend say how many at present are employed by local government authorities?
§ Mr. HayNot without notice. I could not give any figure. The major shortcoming in this field is still that some local authorities have not yet appreciated the need to engage traffic engineers on their staffs to tackle this problem of traffic congestion. We are considering means of stimulating demand, and are writing to the local authority associations asking them to participate in discussions on this matter
§ Mr. HoltHow does the hon. Gentleman know how many people are required for this expanding programme? I asked a Question the other day, asking about the size of the expanding programme over the next five years, and the Ministry apparently was unable to give figures.