§ Mr. Rhodes Jamesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if, in the light of the further consultation over the rate support grant report announced by Her Majesty's Government on 3 December, he is able to offer any guidance on the distribution of transport supplementary grant to local highway authorities.
§ Mr. MooreI am proposing acceptance of 70 new schemes for support with a view to giving further impetus to improvement of more important local authority roads. I also propose to maintain my commitment to support around 270 schemes accepted in previous settlements, many of which which are already under construction.
Officials have today informed each highway authority of their expenditure I propose to accept for TSG, at the proposed 50 per cent. rate of grant. In total, I propose to accept £360 million expenditure and give £180 million grant—almost a 10 per cent. increase over 1986–87.
A copy of the press notice I am issuing today giving total proposed accepted expenditure for each authority has been placed in the Library.