§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department plans to reduce the proportion of sea defence expenditure funded by public funds. [21030]
§ Mr. MorleyAllocations for MAFF grants and credit approvals to operating authorities for capital flood and coastal defence works in 1998–99 are at the same level as plans proposed last year by the previous Government. Also, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has recently announced that Revenue Support Grant allocations for 1998–99, which cover residual costs of local authorities' schemes that are not covered by grant aid, will be almost 5.1 per cent. higher than actual expenditure in 1997–98. For future years the level of funding will depend on the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.