§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will outline the forecasts of road traffic growth which he has used to determine the grant received in respect of roads spending by Scottish local authorities.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonNo account is taken of forecasts of road traffic growth in the grant aided 483W expenditure assessment of road maintenance which is used in the distribution of aggregate external finance to authorities. The assessment (which is agreed with COSLA in the distribution committee of the working party on local government finance) is based primarily on the lane length of non-trunk roads in each authority with a secondary indicator adjustment for estimated traffic volume in prior years.