§ Mr. Fauldsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many staff appointments will be made to man the 15 archaeological centres which it is intended to set up throughout Great Britain;
(2) when the scheme to establish 15 regional archaeological centres through out Great Britain will be brought into operation;
(3) how much funding will be provided by his Department to run the 15 regional archaeological centres throughout Great Britain.
§ Mr. RipponOn 20th September I announced that after discussion with archaeological interests and the local authority associations my Department was working on proposals for new regional arrangements for rescue archaeology which envisage a number of units, grouped regionally, with common support facilities. I cannot yet enlarge on this as the detailed arrangements remain to be settled in consultation with the various interests involved.
I also announced that I am providing £813,000 for grants for rescue excavations 171W this year, compared with £440,000 in 1972–73, and that I hope to increase this next year.