§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement concerning the current position of his Department in relation to recommendation 67 of the report of Professor Horne and his committee on the liaison between highway authorities and public utilities.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Government's response to the Horne report called for negotiations between local authority associations and the National Joint Utilities Group on reommendation 67 which relates to diversions of services made necessary by highway authorities' works. Negotiations started late. Good progress has since been made in working out a code of practice; related financial issues are also currently under discussion.
I hope that the negotiations will be completed within the next four to five months. We shall take the results into account in preparing the legislation required to implement the Horne report.