Hi/FIN/1/2

Ministry of Transport Grants Ledger Records the grants received by the County Council from the Ministry of Transport for road traffic censuses, construction and improvement schemes between the years 1921-1963. Some of the grants for urban roads were delegated to the Borough and Urban District Councils. It is arranged chronologically into financial years starting in 1921-1922 and ending in 1962-1963.

1921 - 1963

From: 1921 To: 1963

For each grant received the following information is usually recorded: (1) Grant Reference No.; (2) Identification of the relevant section of road or work carried out eg traffic censuses; (3) Job No.; (4) Classification of the road into 1st Class Roads ('A' Roads), 2nd Class Roads ('B' Roads), and Unclassified Roads; (5) Total of grant There are culminative totals of grants received under various headings which usually include with minor variations the following sequence: - 'Classification Grant' a block grant probably received for the maintenance of Class 1 and 2 roads; - 'Special Grants' for specific construction and improvement schemes, ad hoc expenditure on traffic signals, direction and speed limit signs etc. - 'Staff Grants' for the County Surveyor's expenses, salaries and other staffing costs eg conducting traffic censuses; - 'Adjustment' of grants with the Ministry of Transport where there have been 'under' or 'over' spends; - 'Agency Services' work carried out by the County Council on behalf of other private and public authorities such as the London Brick Company or the Ministry of Transport; - 'Urban Authorities Claimed and Delegated'; grants for work delegated to Bedford, Dunstable and Luton Boroughs and to Biggleswade and Leighton Buzzard Urban District Councils; A variety of specialist headings periodically include: - Grants for a variety of private organisations eg the Zoological Society for Whipsnade Zoo and other public authorities eg the Air Ministry for airfield access roads for their contributions to highway expenditure to improve access to their facilities, 1921-1963; - 'Unemployment Committee Grants' for grants received for providing work for the unemployed, 1930-1932; - 'Military Defence Measures' including work on blockhouses, removal of direction signs, roadblocks, searchlight station sites and other defence works, 1939-1947: - 'Aerodrome Approach Roads' (for Air Ministry) for the construction of airfield access roads (mostly wartime) and the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Thurleigh; see under Agency Services for after 1948, 1935-1947 - 'Motorway M1' for the maintenance of the Bedfordshire section by the County Council, 1959-1962 The ledger was audited on several occasions and there are District Audit stamps for the years 1929, 1931, and 1934-35. The information contained in this source gives an overall view of the constructional, maintenance and financial activities of the County Surveyor's Department for the period 1921-1963

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Bedfordshire County Council,
Bedford Borough Council,
Luton Borough Council,
Biggleswade Urban District Council,
Leighton Buzzard Urban District Council,
Ministry of Air,
RAE, Bedford,
Zoological Society of London,
London Brick Company,
Ministry of Transport

accounts, audit, roads, M1, traffic census, unemployment, air force airfields, Whipsnade Zoo, home front World War Two, WHIPSNADE, DUNSTABLE, LUTON, BEDFORD, THURLEIGH, LEIGHTON BUZZARD, BIGGLESWADE