§ Mr. Geoffrey Lloydasked the Minister of Transport whether the proposed direct precepting on local authorities by transport authorities will be offset by increased Exchequer grants to avoid a situation in which such added commitments make it impossible to keep within the expenditure limits laid down by the Government.
Mr. Bob BrownNo. The situation postulated by the right hon. Gentleman cannot arise because Clause 13(7) of the Transport Bill lays down that any precepts made by Passenger Transport 285W Authorities shall not count as part of the expenditure (namely relevant expenditure for rate support grant) which the Government expect to be restrained.