§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes he has now approved in the construction of the Thames flood barrier; and what effect these will have on the timing and cost of the project.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe major feature of the recently announced agreement between the Greater London Council and the barrier consortium, which the Government have approved, is that work on the northern half of the barrier is being brought 21W forward. This should lead to a significant saving in construction time. As a result, there is now a good prospect of the barrier being ready for operation by December 1982. The revised programme is not expected to lead to any net increase in costs.