§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the reasons for the underspend on local authority current expenditure on highway maintenance for 1987–88 being revised from £147 million to £91 million in the public expenditure White Paper 1988.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyPrior to the 1989 public expenditure survey, expenditure by local authorities on professional and technical services for road maintenance has been included with similar expenditure on public transport under the separate head of professional and technical services. For the 1989 survey it was agreed with the local authority associations that this expenditure should be charged out to the services concerned. The change is referred to in paragraph 83 of Cm. 288. Because expenditure on professional and technical services for 1987–88 was above the planned figure, the effect was to reduce the underspend on the new definition of road maintenance expenditure. The figures in the 1989 survey (Cm. 608) are also based on revised estimates of expenditure which were not available when the 1988 White Paper (Cm. 288) was published.