§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of direct Government investment in construction projects.
§ Mr. WakehamI refer my hon. Friend to table 1.15 in the most recent public expenditure White Paper, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1982–83 to 1984–85" (Cmnd. 8494) and the accompanying text. The table shows that the Government's public expenditure plans provided for £10½2 billion to be spent by the public sector on construction work in 1982–83. There are signs that some capital spending will be less than planned. The Prime Minister has written to local authority associations and the nationalised industries chairmen's group urging full use of capital allocations.