HL Deb 18 March 1991 vol 527 cc509-11

10.37 p.m.

Lord Belstead rose to move that the draft order laid before the House on 27th February be approved.

The noble Lord said: My Lords, these orders adjust various statutory limits imposed by Northern Ireland legislation on certain financial transactions and they do not provide for any additional public expenditure.

Article 3 will enable part of the regional rate collected in each financial year to be paid to the Department of the Environment Water Service instead of being paid into the Consolidated Fund as required at present by legislation. We believe that will improve accountability. It will be a temporary measure until proposals for the establishment of a government-owned company are brought forward which would take over the water and sewerage function with effect from 1st October 1992.

Article 4 is technical. It increases the ceiling on the amount of government loans advanced from the Consolidated Fund to include loans to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Article 5 will enable the interest rate on a government loan to a district council to be fixed on the day the loan application is received by the Department of Finance and Personnel. The change will let borrowers know where they stand and will bring arrangements in Northern Ireland into line with those operated in Great Britain by the Public Works Loans Board.

Article 6 repeals the Loans Guarantee and Borrowing Regulation Act (Northern Ireland) 1946, which has become obsolete.

Article 7 removes the requirement for the Department of Agriculture to obtain the approval of the Department of Finance and Personnel before carrying out emergency drainage works, subject to a cost limit of £25,000.

Article 8 changes the funding arrangements of the Northern Ireland Sports Council from deficit grant to that of grant-in-aid. Under the present arrangements the Government have to take into account the council's likely income from all sources before deciding on the level of deficit grant required and at the end of the financial year any unexpended grant has to be surrendered. By switching to grant-in-aid we are giving the council more flexibility in the distribution of its resources, and enabling it to plan ahead by carrying over surplus cash from one financial year to the next. The change should also encourage the council to maximise its income from non-government sources since the level of grant will not suffer as a consequence.

I commend the order to your Lordships. I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 27th February be approved.—(Lord Belstead.)

Lord Prys-Davies

My Lords, I was interested to hear the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, explain this technical order and make it sound a little more interesting. I am sure that Article 5 will be welcomed by the district councils, and Article 8 will be welcomed by the sports council. I feel sure that Article 6 was long overdue. Article 7 abolishes an unbelievable requirement. However, I understand that the civil servants, true to their traditions, had already found a way round that stumbling block.

Clearly the order is a very sensible order. We on these Benches, as usual, are pleased to support a sensible order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.