§ Mr. GRANVILLEasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the crumbling state of rural unclassified roads in Suffolk; and if, in view of the heavy omnibus traffic that uses them, a use for which their construction is unsuitable, he will initiate a scheme for the rebuilding of the more important of these roads by the State?
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§ Mr. HERBERT MORRISONIt is not possible usefully to make a general statement about the condition of the roads over so wide an area as the whole of Suffolk, but I am aware that in certain parts of the county disintegration has taken place, principally owing to the roads having been surfaced in flint or gravel without a coating of tar. The responsibility for the initiation and execution of works of road improvement rests with the highway authorities, in this case the county councils of East Suffolk and West Suffolk, and it is hoped that road conditions in the county will be improved as the result of the operation of the Local Government Act, 1929. I have before me at the moment applications from East Suffolk and West Suffolk for grants towards expenditures amounting to £36,200 and £14,600 respectively towards the cost, of the widening, strengthening and improved surfacing of unclassified roads in the two counties, and the hon. Member can be assured that these applications, and such others as the county councils may put forward, will receive my sympathetic consideration.