§ Mr. HindTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what grants he has allocated to Lancashire county council for 1988–89; what allocations were made in 1987–88; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTransport supplementary grant allocated to Lancashire county council is £4,683,000 for 1988–89 and £6,375,000 for 1987–88.
Grant is paid at 50 per cent. of accepted expenditure. The lower grant in 1988–89 results primarily from the fact that expenditure on some important major schemes accepted for grant is coming to an end. One new major scheme was accepted for 1988–89 with expenditure in the year of £1.4 million. Adjustments of £1.5 million were made to reflect lower than expected expenditure on some aspects of the county's programme in previous years.
A grant of around £7,000 in 1987.88 has been approved under section 272 of the Highways Act 1980.