HL Deb 14 December 1976 vol 378 cc775-6

2.53 p.m.

The Earl of LAUDERDALE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any regional or district authorities in Scotland have exceeded Government expenditure limits in the current financial year or in their budgets for the next.

The MINISTER of STATE, SCOTTISH OFFICE (Lord Kirkhill)

My Lords, the Government have no powers to limit the current expenditure of local authorities. In the present financial year, authorities as a whole have planned to spend some £45 million more than the figure of £1,030 million assumed in the November 1975 rate support grant settlement, which they had been requested to regard as implying a ceiling on expenditure. Authorities have not yet completed their budgets for 1977/78.

The Earl of LAUDERDALE

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Am I correct in thinking that that means £9 per head for a population of 5 million? What do the Government intend to do in a time of great stringency to persuade local authorities to conform to the limits that the Government have set?

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, without being a totally numerate person myself, I confirm in a rough and ready manner that the noble Earl's arithmetic is correct. I can assure the noble Earl that the Government are continuing protracted discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, that consideration is being given to further constraint and that the local authorities concerned are seeking to achieve fiscal curtailment.

The Earl of LAUDERDALE

My Lords, can the noble Lord confirm that the majority of the authorities concerned are dominated by the Socialist Party?

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, they enjoy the good guidance of Labour control, certainly.

Lord LEATHERLAND

My Lords, can my noble friend tell me whether it is true, as reported in the Evening Standard, that the Greater London Council is not increasing its coming year's rate by a single penny, and that that council is also dominated by the Socialist Party?

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, I have not yet read the Evening Standard and I was of course attempting to reply to a Scottish Question.