Proposed Railway Closures

HC Deb 08 May 1963 vol 677 cc407-9

14. Mr. Wingfield Digby

asked the Minister of Transport how the additional road expenditure which will be necessitated by rail closures in country areas, is to be financed, in view of the fact that the rate burden in these areas is already heavy.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. John Hay)

Any highway improvements that may prove to be necessary will be financed in the usual way, according to the category of road. This means that the greater part of the cost would fall on the Exchequer.

Mr. Digby

Is my hon. Friend aware that a great deal of the cost will fall on the local authority? In counties like Dorset the rates are simply not in a position to bear this. This affects very much the attitude of many parts of England towards the whole of the Beeching Plan. Will he consult his right hon. Friend with a view to getting a new Government statement on this very fundamental question?

Mr. Hay

We are at the moment engaged on the preliminary stages of discussions with highway authorities about classifications and the percentage grants. We ought to continue with these before my right hon. Friend is asked to make any further statement.

Mr. Costain

Would he consider saving the money by allowing rail buses to run on existing permanent ways, thus obviating the need for extending roads in country areas?

Mr. Hay

I hardly think that arises on this Question.

Mr. Strauss

Is not this an example of losses on the railways being passed over for local authorities to bear? Does the Parliamentary Secretary think that is right in principle?

Mr. Hay

I think there is a fallacy here. The right hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members perhaps have forgotten that the local authority's own share of highway improvement costs receives support through the general grant and, in the great majority of cases, through the rate deficiency grant as well. All these things have to be taken into consideration, which we are doing in our consultations with the local authority associations.

15. Mr. Wingfield Digby

asked the Minister of Transport when he intends to publish a road plan to show the new roads and road improvements which will be necessitated by the proposed railway closures in rural areas.

Mr. Hay

We do not think it will be necessary or practicable to publish such a plan, but each proposal will be carefully examined from this particular point of view.

Mr. Digby

When can we have some evidence that something is being done and that this problem is being thought about? This again is a very vital question to all areas like my own. We are losing eleven out of thirteen stations. Will my hon. Friend give serious thought to producing something to allay public apprehension?

Mr. Hay

My hon. Friend has accepted that the proposals which are contained in one of the appendices to the Beeching Plan will automatically become operative. As my right hon. Friend made clear in last week's debate, the intention is that these proposals as they are brought forward over a period of time by the Railways Board will be comprehensively examined, not only by the Government, but also by the transport users consultative committees. It is only when my right hon. Friend finally has to decide on each individual proposal that the question whether the road programme in that locality should be expedited or altered in some respects comes to the surface.

Mr. Mellish

If, in fact, rail closures are to take place, for whatever reason the Government may have, ought there not to be a road plan to show that the roads will be adequate to cope? Surely, it is very reasonable to say that supplementing the one plan there should be another showing the alternative?

Mr. Hay

As I said in my original Answer, we do not think that it is necessary, or that it would be practicable, to publish a plan of that kind. We have to judge each case on its merits at the time.

Mr. P. Browne

Would not my hon. Friend agree that a very considerable sum of money must be spent on improving the roads that lead to areas that have just been made development districts, from which the railway is now to be taken away?

Mr. Hay

That is a very much wider question than the one on the Order Paper, and I should prefer to see it put down before replying to it.