§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what rate of return in public capital expenditure he anticipates from the Maplin airport, the Maplin seaport and the Channel Tunnel.
§ Mr. RipponThe rate of return on the Maplin airport will depend on the level of airport charges, and it is too early to say what this level will be. Detailed proposals for the Maplin seaport have not yet been submitted to me by the Port of London Authority. Major public expenditure on the Channel Tunnel itself would arise only if the guarantees to fixed interest investors were called, which is not expected to happen.
§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assessment he has made of the availability of building resources, especially the labour force, in South-East England for undertaking the Maplin and Channel Tunnel projects;
(2) if he is satisfied that the demand for building labour in connection with the Maplin and Channel Tunnel projects will have no adverse impact on the house-building programmes of local authorities in London and the South-East.
§ Mr. RipponThe peak requirement for labour on the Maplin and Channel Tunnel projects together—including housing in the Maplin New Town—is expected to be about 12,000 at the end of the decade. This is equivalent to about 4 per cent. of the total construction labour force currently working in the South-East. The construction industries are capable of the organisation necessary to meet a requirement of this order which does not in any case represent a net addition to demand on construction resources310W compared with what would otherwise arise in providing alternative facilities. There is no reason why local authority housebuilding programmes should be significantly affected.