New grants structure under discussion
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• Discussions between the DOE and representatives of local authorities' associations began last week about a possible new structure of transport grants which would largely replace existing specific grants. This was announced at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants in Brighton on Friday by Mr Keith Speed, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the DoE.
Mr Speed emphasized the need for a total approach to the problem of the urban environment and said this would be facilitated by the bringing together of responsibilities, for planning roads and co-ordinating public transport in the forthcoming reorganization of local government.
Speaking about finance, Mr Speed said: "We would also like to see a reform of the present sy stem of transport grants. The present specific grants involve the department in a considerable amount of checking individual schemes. It makes it difficult for local authorities to look at their transport problems across the board and to decide on priorities between capital and current expenditure on the one hand and between road building and public transport investment on the other."