§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Transport to what extent he expects during the current financial year the 342W boards and the new authorities, as defined in Section 41(1) of the Transport Act 1968, to fail to meet the statutory duty laid upon them by Section 41(2) of the same Act to secure that the combined revenues of the authority and of their subsidiaries taken together are not less than sufficient to meet their combined charges properly chargeable to revenue account.
§ Mr. William RodgersSection 41(2) of the Transport Act 1968 provides for these authorities to break even on revenue account taking one year with another. The British Transport Docks Board and National Bus Company currently do so without Exchequer assistance. The British Railways Board, in addition to statutory compensation for its passenger service obligation, has since last year required transitional grant in support of rail freight. The National Freight Corporation has since January been supported by grant while its financial position has been under review.
Other authorities within the ambit of Section 41(1) of the Act are the London Transport Board, now the London Transport Executive, the British Waterways Board, and the Scottish Transport Group, for which I am not responsible.