HC Deb 06 March 1968 vol 760 cc413-5
5. Mr. Steele

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the additional financial allocation to Scottish local authorities for work on roads this winter.

Mr. Ross

£4,825,896.

Mr. Steele

I am grateful for that reply, which is most encouraging. Is it a 100 per cent. grant from the central authority to the local authorities? What proportion of the money went to the County of Dunbarton?

Mr. Ross

One of the attractions of this, and a reason for the response of the local authorities, was that it was complete reimbursement from central government. Dunbarton County, Dumbarton Town Council and Clydebank did work to the tune of £97,000 and, acting as agents for the central authority on trunk roads, Dunbarton County Council additionally undertook to do work of £26,000. That is a total of £123,000.

8. Mr. Hugh D. Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the present rate of Government expenditure on roads in Scotland; and what is the increase or decrease compared with five years earlier.

Mr. Ross

Expenditure from the Roads Scotland Vote is expected to be £36.7 million in 1967–68. In 1962–63 it was £20.2 million, but this figure included £3.7 million in respect of grants for maintenance and minor improvement, which are now broadly covered by rate support grant. The increase is thus over £20 million.

Mr. Brown

Apart from my helpful Question—[Laughter.]—it is a change, is it not?—what steps does my right hon. Friend intend to take to advise local authorities, transport users and the road haulage industry that the so-called cuts in the future are not cuts but reductions in increases? I do not think that we are getting across to road users in general the work that has been done by the Government.

Mr. Ross

I am sure that my hon. Friend's supplementary question was as helpful as his original Question, and the answers will, given the proper publicity, have the effect he desires. My hon. Friend is right; the road building programme, which is the main part of this, rises from £26.8 million in 1967–68 to £29.7 million in 1968–69, after the moderations, and to £33.5 million in 1969–70.

Mr. G. Campbell

Since the number of registered vehicles has been rapidly increasing, and the money that they contribute in licences and fuel tax greatly exceeds the expenditure on roads, will the Secretary of State press the Minister of Transport to drop the proposals for two new taxes on lorries, which are likely to be especially damaging to Scotland?

Mr. Ross

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on getting in a question that had nothing to do with the original Question.

29. Mr. Manuel

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the total road expenditure in Scotland in the year 1962–63 and the estimated expenditure for the current year and for next year.

Mr. Ross

£31.1 million in 1962–63, and an estimated £61 million in each of the years 1967–68 and 1968–69.

Mr. Manuel

I am taken aback. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that this complete change will be warmly welcomed among local authorities which are being misled by right hon. and hon. Members opposite? Does it not make complete nonsense of the empty propaganda in which they indulge week by week?

Mr. Ross

It is indeed surprising that all this work is being done and all this is being spent on Scottish roads—nearly double what was spent in 1962–63—and we never hear anything about it from hon. Members opposite. I gave the figure of £61 million for each of the next two years, but within the current year there is the £5 million about which I spoke earlier for special winter work.

Mrs. Ewing

Is the right hon. Gentleman able to give the estimated total mileage of motorways in Scotland for the end of next year?

Mr. Ross

If the hon. Lady tables that Question, she will get the answer. She will probably find that it has already been answered more than once.