§ Q2. Mr. Staintonasked the Prime Minister what steps he has in view to extend the Explanatory Memoranda on Bills to embrace the financial and manpower implications for local authorities separately from those of any implications for the rest of the public sector, in order that this House may be better apprised as to local authority spending and rate demands.
§ Mr. Edward ShortI have been asked to reply.
1209 Thanks to the hon. Member's initiative, the Explanatory and Financial Memoranda on Government Bills will in future separately distinguish the estimates of the financial and manpower implications for local authorities from those for the rest of the public sector.
§ Mr. StaintonI am most grateful to the Prime Minister and I ask the Lord President to transmit my thanks to him for agreeing to this important development. However meritorious the content of any Bill, there must be a sharp awareness in the House of its impact locally in terms of manpower and rating. Will the Lord President undertake to have discussions through the usual channels on the format of the extended Explanatory Memoranda, which could have implications for money resolutions and Bills?
§ Mr. ShortYes, I will certainly convey to my right hon. Friend what the hon. Gentleman has said. I understand that the hon. Gentleman has had an exchange of letters with the Prime Minister on this matter and that my right hon. Friend has taken a keen personal interest in it. The Prime Minister is, of course, responsible for the manpower implications. The hon. Gentleman has done the House and the country a service by making this suggestion.
§ Mr. Hall-DavisI am encouraged by the response to my hon. Friend's Question, but will the right hon. Gentleman consider the case for presenting a manpower budget as well as a financial statement once a year covering the whole of the public sector?
§ Mr. ShortThat is a useful idea which I shall pass on to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer for consideration.