asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total estimated cost of the widening of the A.23 at Hooley, Surrey, and when the work will be completed.

The estimated cost of this scheme is £410,000 and work should be completed in 1980.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the acreage of agricultural land that is owned by each of the nine Regional Water Authorities in England and the Welsh Water Authority and what percentage in each Authority is:

The information which the noble Lord seeks is not held centrally. Much of it would be available within the water authorities, as the management responsibility is theirs. The noble Lord may like to contact water authorities direct: alternatively, if there are particular policy points he would like pursued and he would care to write to me, I would be happy to look into these.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What profits and losses were made by the nine Regional Water Authorities in England and the Welsh Water Authority and whether these profits and losses took into account a rent charge or interest on capital or both.

Expenditure and income, including rents and interest paid and received, and resulting surpluses for the English Water Authorities and the Welsh Water Authority for the year ending 31st March 1978 are as follows:

Water Authorities	Total Expenditure 1977–78	Total income 1977–18 including surplus brought forward from 1976–77	Total surplus at 31st March 1978 carried forward to 1978–79
	£'000	£'000	£'000
North West	158,241	182,619	24,378
Northumbrian	44,435	55,215	10,780
Severn Trent	203,061	234,332	31,271
Yorkshire	119,245	130,560	11,315
Anglian	147,281	166,208	18,927
Thames	247,663	280,282	32,619
Southern	82,143	92,083	9,940
Wessex	53,472	55,979	2,507
South West	41,311	44,709	3,398
Welsh	95,810	106,633	10,823
Total England and Wales	1,192,662	1,348,620	155,958

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many road construction units now exist; what is their purpose; how much they have cost in each of the last five years; to whom they are accountable; how many civil servants they employ; and whether their workload and personnel are increasing.

There are six road construction units. They are an integral part of the Department of Transport and thus accountable to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport. They are responsible for the design, preparation and supervision of construction of the major trunk roads and motorway schemes in England, together with the associated statutory, financial and contractual controls.The total administrative cost of the units over the last five financial years, at outturn prices, has been as follows:—

1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78
£11·8m	£12·7m	£16·2m	£21·2m	£19·8m

NOTE: Approximately £3 million of the expenditure in 1976–77 arose from late requisitions for staff costs incurred in earlier years.The number of civil servants in post on 1st October 1978 was 212, but the units also employ local authority officers, seconded to them by 16 participating county councils. The number of these in post on 1st October was 2,370 giving a total staff in post of 2,582 against a complement of 2,800. The number of staff fluctuates from time to time according to the number of contracts being supervised. The value of schemes under construction is likely to increase over the next year or so but it should be possible to contain the additional staff effort within the existing complement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in the interest of accident prevention, they will encourage the responsible authority to make the Skipton/Grassington road opposite the Swinden Lime quarry, Threshfield, an accident black spot because of the number of accidents which have occurred there.

I appreciate that there is an accident record at this site and I understand that the highway authority and the quarry owners have taken various measures to reduce risk and that the authority is considering what more may be done. However, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport does not commend the designation of sites as black spots, as signs to that effect do not alert drivers to specific hazards and are not likely to contribute to safety.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

The Disaster Unit of the Ministry of Overseas Development has already provided immediate relief comprising medical supplies, tents, blankets, polythene sheeting for temporary roofing and diesel generators at an estimated cost of £140,000. Further generators and polythene sheeting at an estimated cost of £90,000 will be sent to Sri Lanka as soon as possible.House adjourned at sixteen minutes past seven o'clock.