HL Deb 17 July 1984 vol 454 cc1422-3

8.51 p.m.

Lord Lyell rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 29th June be approved.

The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is a further order in a series which has been enacted at intervals of one or two years to deal with miscellaneous matters of a financial nature, the previous one in the series being the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1983. The main purpose of these orders is to increase as necessary, statutory limits imposed by Northern Ireland legislation on certain financial transactions and to deal with other matters with a financial content. The orders do not deal wih appropriation of cash for public services.

I shall now deal briefly with the content of each of the main articles. Article 3 deals with issues which may be made from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund in respect of expenditure by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The issues have a statutory limit placed upon them which presently stands at £1.3 billion—and I am using the American style, representing £1,300 million; and it is anticipated that this limit will be reached by August 1985. It is estimated that the proposed new limit of £1.6 billion will accommodate expenditure in this field until early 1987.

Article 4 deals with another statutory limit and proposes an increase from £25 million to £30 million in the aggregate amount of loans and grants which may be made to harbour authorities by the Departments of Economic Development and Agriculture for harbour works. The present limit is likely to be exhausted by spring 1986 and we feel that it is prudent to seek a revision now as the next Financial Provisions Order may not be proposed until mid-1986.

Article 5 deals with the NI health and social services hoards, which make loans to general medical practitioners to assist in the provision, improvement and equipment of premises in which they conduct their practices. The Department of Finance and Personnel guarantees the repayment of principal and payment of interest on these loans. The present statutory limit on the aggregate amount of principal which may be guaranteed by the Department of Finance and Personnel in this field is £1.2 million. As a result of a sustained high rate of applications in recent years, it is anticipated that this limit could be reached in the current financial year of 1984–85. The proposed revised limit of £2.5 million should accommodate expenditure until late 1986.

Finally, Article 6 makes provision for the Department of Finance and Personnel to offer loans at variable rates of interest to local authorities. It is envisaged that such rates of interest would be reviewed at three-monthly intervals. At present, loans can be made only at a fixed rate of interest. This proposal will bring Northern Ireland into line with practice in Great Britain. For the third time this evening, I commend an order to the House.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 29th June be approved.—(Lord Lyell.)

Lord Underhill

My Lords, the noble Lord the Minister and other noble Lords will be delighted to know that I will not use this opportunity to discuss in detail the proposal of the three services to which three of the articles relates. The proposal for the increase is seen as common sense and acceptable and we are particularly pleased to see that the variable rates of interest are to be brought into line with the position in the United Kingdom as regards the local authorities. Therefore, this order is one to which we shall give our support.

Lord Lyell

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Underhill. I, too, have some interesting views on the variable rate. I understood that neither the department nor the local authorities seemed to win too often one against the other. It depended upon the rise and fall of interest rates. Doubtless, the noble Lord and I will be able to study closely the Financial Times and the marvellous LIBOR (the London Inter Bank Offer Rate), which is the base for the variable rates. We are very grateful for the noble Lord's interest and for the interest shown generally by noble Lords.

On Question, Motion agreed to.