HC Deb 24 October 1949 vol 468 cc82-3W
Mr. Willis

asked the Minister of Transport if he can now state whether he accepts the recommendations in the Report of the Ferries Committee; and what action he proposes to take to give effect to them.

Mr. Barnes

Yes. The main general recommendations of the Ferries Committee were: that ferries connecting trunk and classified roads should, in the absence of a permanent crossing, be treated as part of the highway and should ultimately be freed from tolls; that the law should be amended so as to permit the acquisition of such ferries compulsorily, if necessary, by the appropriate highway authority; and that the expenditure of highway authorities on acquiring, improving, maintaining and operating ferries should be grant-aided.

The Government accept these recommendations, in principle, as a long-term objective, but have decided, with regret, that in present economic conditions it is not practicable to incur the expenditure necessary to make them effective. They recognise, however, that, even if funds could be found, the existing state of the law concerning ferries would hinder the carrying out of the accepted recommendations; and I propose, therefore, to prepare a Bill, for introduction when Parliamentary time can be made available, to modernise the law with a view to bringing those recommendations into effect when resources permit.