§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report a comparison of public expenditure in percentage terms on roadworks in the United Kingdom and other member states in the European Economic Community.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe Department does not keep records of this kind. However, information on infrastructure spending on roads in each member state of the European Community can be found, for the period up to 1981, in the eleventh report from the Commission to the Council on "Expenditure on and Utilization of Rail, Road and Inland Waterway Infrastructures" issued earlier this year—reference COM(84)282. My hon. Friend may find the summary tables on pages 80 and 81 of particular interest. Definitions of public expenditure vary widely from country to country, so direct comparisons of spending rates could be misleading.