asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state the amount of expenditure under the Telephone Capital Acts for 1957/ 58 and 1958/59 on the same basis as in a reply of 20th February, 1958.

The following table shows for the year 1957/58 the amount expended under the Telephone Capital Acts on the basis requested. Final figures of expenditure for the year 1958/59 are not yet available and the expenditure for that year has been estimated.

The total expended in the various categories does not correspond with the amount expended under the Acts as it is affected by the extent to which stocks of capital stores are run down. The amounts have therefore been expressed as percentages of the total cost of telephone capital works in each year.