asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what additional facilities he has advised local authorities to provide for the safety of old people and children crossing the roads.

Local authorities are encouraged to appoint school crossing patrols at suitable places; motorists should show particular care when they see old people about to cross the road, whether at zebra crossings or not.

Is the Minister aware that his recent admission that the Ministry had never considered zebra crossings particularly suitable for young people and children dealt a further damaging blow at public confidence in these devices? Will he say what a child going to school and an old person should do when they want to cross the road at a place officially described as not being particularly suitable for the purpose?

I find it a little difficult to understand the motive of the hon. and gallant Gentleman in carrying on this campaign against zebra crossings. I was at pains to say in that speech that zebra crossings are not entirely safe. I meant to emphasise that because a certain road sense is necessary in using zebra crossings they could not be relied upon as being entirely safe for old people and young children who are sometimes lacking in road sense. That is all I meant.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether his new regulations for zebra crossings require the alteration of established tram stops as well as of omnibus stops.

Yes, Sir, if a stop is between a crossing and the pattern of studs on the approach side. Sometimes it might be simpler to move the zebra.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he has completed his investigations into the road dangers at Manor Road, West Ham. E.15; what was the nature of these investigations; what was the result; and whether he will make a statement.

As a result of our investigations, we have asked the West Ham Borough Council to provide guardrails and to erect warning signs at the approaches to the double bend in Manor Road. We are also asking the Commissioner of Police to give special attention to this area.

While thanking the Minister most sincerely for that reply, and while appreciating that this will be a big help, may I point out to him that this is a veritable death trap and make the suggestion that he should consider introducing a system of traffic control either way under the bridge? Were that to be done, and were traffic lights to be installed on either side of the bridge, it would have the effect of slowing down and stopping traffic, thus doing away with some of the dangers.

I am much obliged to the hon. Gentleman for the kind things he has said, and I will certainly look carefully into the further suggestion he has made

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give details of the length of unclassified roads which have been classified in the six North Wales counties in each of the last three financial years.

As the answer involves a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

As the percentage of classified roads in Wales is higher than in any other part of the country, cannot the Minister see his way to relax the regulations so that in future a greater number of roads can be classified?

I am afraid that I do not quite follow the hon. Gentleman's supplementary. It is the case that in the six North Wales counties to which the hon. Gentleman refers, 54 per cent. of all the roads are trunk or classified roads compared with only 50·4 per cent. in England. That tends to show that we are already taking into account the special needs of North Wales.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what criteria of traffic value and what other factors he takes into consideration when deciding whether a road should be brought into a classified category.

The decision whether and how a road should be classified depends on its importance as a through traffic route.

Is the Minister aware that his Department recently agreed to classify a short distance of road in my division on condition that a similar distance in the same county was de-classified? Is that the policy of his Department?

In both cases, the decision was justified because it was found that the length of road which was classified had a greater value to through traffic than the road which was declassified.

Can the Minister say how many through roads there are in the Isle of Anglesey?

The mileage is extremely limited, for obvious geographical reasons.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will appoint a committee to inquire into the dislocation of London traffic caused by parades and processions of an official character, and to make recommendations to reduce inconvenience to the general public.

I do not think this could usefully be studied by a committee; I am assured by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department that the police do everything possible to ensure that diversions of traffic arising out of parades and processions are kept to a minimum.

Is it not ridiculous that so many big parades should take place on busy week days, and at the busiest times of the day? Why could not the big police review of last week have been held on Saturday afternoon? That would have avoided the necessity of messing up the traffic all round Hyde Park for five hours.

I think it is generally agreed that most of these great occasions bring welcome colour into people's lives, and that many of them provide opportunities for showing pride and loyalty and are deeply valued by millions of people.

Cannot this be done on Saturday afternoon?

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) the authorised expenditure for new road works in each region under his control for the current financial year;

My right hon. Friend does not authorise expenditure on new road works for particular financial years; his authorisations are for the Road Fund share of the total cost of schemes, some of which will be spread over several years. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table, which at this stage can only be very provisional, showing the possible distribution between the highway divisions this year of Road Fund commitments for works of major improvement and new construction. We cannot yet estimate the distribution of commitments by counties.