§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what extra cost will fall on his Department directly or indirectly, via rate support grant, following the failure of the West Midlands County Council to follow his advice in 1974 to check structures thought to contain high alumina cement; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe rate support grant is calculated in relation to the estimated level of relevant expenditure by local authorities as a whole in the grant year concerned. It is not hypothecated to particular heads.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what instructions his Department is currently giving the West Midlands County Council in respect of checking structures thought to contain high alumina cement.
§ Mr. HoramI have been asked to reply.
Since local authority roads are the responsibility of county councils, this is not a matter on which the Department of Transport is issuing instructions; but West Midlands County Council is keeping us informed of the action it currently has in hand.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why his Department did not satisfy itself that its advice to the West Midlands County Council in 1974 to check structures thought to contain high alumina cement had been carried out; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HoramI have been asked to reply.
It is for the West Midlands County Council, as highway authority, to decide, in relation to the roads for which it is responsible, what action to take in the light of such advice.