§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the level of underspending on roads in 1981–82.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNet expenditure on motorways and trunk roads in England in 1981–82 was £51 million, (7½ per cent.) below the cash equivalent of plans published in Cmnd. 8175. Lower-than-expected construction and land prices enabled new construction to progress faster than planned, and reconstruction of older motorways to be accelerated at less cash cost.
Local roads are the responsiblity of local highway authorities. Outturn figures are not yet available, but provisional estimates suggest the outturn for local roads will be about £40 million, (3½ per cent.) less than the cash equivalent of plans published in Cmnd. 8175. Capital expenditure is likely to be £60 million (15½ per cent.) below the planned level while current expenditure is likely to be slightly above (3 per cent.).