HC Deb 20 May 1994 vol 243 c597W
Ms Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 12 May,Official Report, columns 232–34, what were the principal causes of the difference between the figure for expenditure by the Department of Transport of £6,010 million in 1993–94 and the equivalent figure of £6,150 million published in table 5B.3 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" in 1994–95; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. MacGregor

The difference between the Department's latest estimated 1993–94 outturn and the forecast outturn last autumn which appears in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" is due principally to the following: deferred payment by BR of a substantial sum on railway rolling stock due to delayed entry into service, delays to the start of the Jubilee line extension and underspend on the Department's highways programme and reduced call on provision for BR pensions because of fewer than expected retirements.