§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide his latest estimate of the amount and proportion of the Forth bridge debt which arises from the inclusion of bridge approach roads in the debt.
§ Mr. AncramThe approach roads originally cost £5.7 million, out of a total cost for bridge and roads of £19.7 million. After taking account of a proportionate share of the Government and local authority grants made available at the time, £4.2 million or 28.8 per cent. of the debt was attributable to the roads. The total outstanding debt has of course increased to around £21 million, but the proportion attributable to the roads remains the same.