§ Mr. Norman Fowlerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the total subsidy going to British Railways in 1975–76 at 1975 survey prices, broken down between (a) passenger subsidies, (b) freight subsidies and (c) pension liabilities, distinguishing between 671W subsidies paid by central and local government;
(2) what is the total investment being devoted to British Railways in 1975–76 at 1975 survey prices, distinguishing between investment by central and local government;
(3) what is the total public expenditure being devoted to British Railways in 1975–76 at 1975 survey prices; and how this compares with total public expenditure on transport.
§ Dr. GilbertPublic expenditure on British Railways in 1975–76 as set out in Cmnd. 6393 was as follows:
£ million at 1975 Survey prices Central Government subsidies Passenger subsidies 254.0 Freight grant 69.2 Pensions 64.9 388.1 Local passenger subsidies 23.7 411.8 Investment National 212.4 Supported by local authorities and local transport executives 29.8 242.2 654.0 less infrastructure investment supported by passenger subsidies 86.0 Total public expenditure on British Railways 568.0 British Railways also received Exchequer grants of £34.7 million at outturn prices to finance repayments to pension funds of moneys deposited with the board. These grants do not rank as public expenditure.
Public expenditure on inland surface transport, as described in Chapter 2 of the Transport Policy Consultation Document, amounts in 1975–76 to £2,395 million at 1975 Survey prices of which British Railways accounted for 23.7 per cent.