Mr. Pageasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what was the total amount of rates levied by local authorities in England and Wales during the last five financial years in respect of highway expenditure.
§ Mr. BrookeIt is not possible to identify the amount of rates levied for this purpose; after deduction of the amounts of grant and other income specifically in aid of expenditure on highways and bridges, the net cost is met out of the local authorities' revenue from rates, grants and other income in aid of their expenditure generally. The net cost in each of the last five years for which information is available was:
£ million. 1954–55 … … … … 57.8 1955–56 … … … … 61.5 1956–57 … … … … 66.2 1957–58 … … … … 71.4 1958–59 … … … … 73.5