§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Transport why, according to Command Papers Nos. 6721 and 7049, the cost of local road construction in 1972–73 and 1973–74 appears to be lower in 1977 survey prices than in 1976 survey prices; and, if this negative inflation rate is due to competitive tendering in road construction, why this is not reflected in the figures for motorway and trunk road construction.
§ Mr. William RodgersDifferent revaluation methods are used for the two programmes partly because of differences in the nature of trunk road and local road schemes—the former usually take longer than the latter—and partly because of differences in the information available. I shall write to the hon. Member about the technical details.
§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Transport how much under-speeding occurred in 1976–77 and in 1977–78 in local road construction and in local road maintenance; and to what extent this underspending was due to bad weather, and to what extent to the moratorium on new starts.
§ Mr. William RodgersIt is estimated that in 1976–77 capital expenditure provision for local roads was underspent by about £70 million and maintenance expenditure by about £50 million at November 1976 prices. In 1977–78, the latest estimates suggest that capital expenditure on local roads is likely to be on target, and maintenance expenditure about £15 million below provision, at November 1976 prices. While bad weather and the moratorium on new starts would be contributory factors in the underspend in 1976–77, I cannot quantify their effect.