§ 73. Mr. Holtasked the Minister of Transport what consideration he is giving to increasing expenditure on road development in Lancashire, in view of the benefit to be derived from making the area more likely to attract industrialists to settle permanently there, and so beneficially affect the employment rate.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettLancashire's share of the road programme must continue to be determined by national priorities. It is already a large share and with the expansion of the programme year by year it will continue to be substantial.
To help employment in Lancashire, particularly on Merseyside, in the short term my right hon. Friend has recently authorised additional road works there to the value of almost £2 million over and above the normal road programme. This is on top of the additional schemes to the 47W value of almost £1 million which he referred to in his reply to the hon. Member on 14th November.
§ 74. Mr. Holtasked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the fact that the total of grants for road schemes in county boroughs in Lancashire for the three years ending 1963–64 will amount to only £4 million, he will increase future grants to the level considered necessary by the South-East Lancashire and North-East Cheshire Technical Committee in its recently published report.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettThe total grant allocation for road schemes in the county boroughs in Lancashire for the three years referred to is in fact over £10 million. The future road programmes for the county boroughs in South-East Lancashire and on Merseyside will be reviewed in the course of the discussions we will be having with the two conurbation committees after we have received their recommendations.