§ Sir F. Markhamasked the Minister of Transport whether he has considered the Seventh Report from the Estimates Committee for Session 1961–62, on the subject of classified road; and whether he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Marples; I have studied with interest the Report of the Select Committee. It will, of course, be some time before I will be in a position to let the Committee have my detailed comments on their Report and recommendations, but I can say now that a number of their recommendations are entirely in line with proposals which the Ministry has itself been formulating. I am grateful to the Committee for the care with which they have examined these important problems.
On some points action is already in hand. As the Committee were informed at the outset of their enquiry, we have been reviewing the grant system and proposals for revision and simplification will shortly be put to the local authorities as a basis for discussion. Moreover, following the large increase in road expenditure, approved some two years ago, a three-year rolling programme for classified roads was put into operation in April 1961, and all local authorities were informed accordingly. Whether it would be practicable here and now to extend the programme to five years, as the Committee propose, is a matter I shall want to consider but I agree that this should be our aim.
As recently as 1955–56 total central government expenditure on new construction and major improvements on classified roads was as low as £4.2 million. With so little money available it was necessary to maintain a high degree of central control of projects in order to ensure that the limited money available was spent to the best advantage in the light of national priorities. With some £24½ million now available from central funds for major improvements on classified roads and with the more extensive experience we now have, a considerable relaxation of this central control is possible.
A major change in grant arrangements on the lines I have indicated will inevit-aibly take time to effect and will require legislation. My Ministry has therefore also been considering ways in which present controls could be revised in advance of a new grant system.
Discussions will continue to this end with the local authorities.
At the same time it must be remembered that on classified road projects my department pays grants which in the 66W aggregate and in many oases individually amount to a considerable sum. This money is voted by Parliament and has to be accounted for to Parliament. I shall, therefore, have to consider with care how far, in the words of the Committee, "a simpler system of control would be compatible with the Ministry's accountability to Parliament". The proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee show the very close interest that Committee rightly takes in effective supervision by my Department of the very large sums of money now being spent out of the Ministry's Votes.
Finally, I welcome the Committee's Recommendation that the Ministry should review the use made of engineering staff at Headquarters and in Divisions. Much thought has already been given to this subject in my Department and it is my intention to set up a committee under the Chairmanship of a Deputy Secretary in my Ministry and including members from outside the department, to examine this problem.