asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make additional funds available to local authorities to remedy the serious damage done to roads due to weather conditions during winter months.

I have already notified increased road grants for 1979, which absorb the total of the moneys available to me for road works in this year. The grants total £47.9 million, an increase of £10 million or 27 per cent over the corresponding allocations for 1978.

Was that increase due to inflation?

No.

Is it a genuine increase?

Yes. It is a 27 per cent increase over 1978. This is substantial.

Have the allocations for this year and future years been included in the ten-year programme for £1,000 million?

Allocations will continue to be made, increased under the ten-year plan.

That is not what I asked. I want to know if the normal allocations are part and parcel of the £1,000 million or will that amount be additional to the allocations to be made?

They will be part of the £1,000 million because a substantial amount of the road allocations is spent on national, primary and secondary roads which are the basis of the ten-year plan.