HC Deb 03 March 1970 vol 797 cc69-70W
Mr. Peter Archer

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will introduce legislation to amend Section 239 of the Local Government Act, 1933, to empower local authorities, once having chosen between professional audit and district audit, to give effect to a subsequent change of view.

Mr. Denis Howell

My right hon. Friend has no plans for such legislation at the present time. The thorough going review of local government finance which

Thousand square feet
1st April, (Estimated) 1964 1st April, (Provisional) 1967 1st April, (Estimated) 1969
Commercial offices 1,026.1 1,101.3 1,155.0
Shops and restaurants 3,368.1 3,415.6 3,402.5
Industrial premises 19,071.7 18,963.7 19,276.1
The 1967 figures are based on a special count in that year, but are only provisional at present. Those for 1964 and 1969 have been derived from the 1967 figures on the basis of information about changes in the intervening years; they are less accurate and should be treated with caution. Totals for 1954 are not available.

Mr. Oram

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if, in respect of the area now covered by the Greater

Million square feet
1st April, 1964 1st April, 1967 1st April, 1969
Commercial offices 104.6 113.9 121.6
Shops and restaurants 107.1 109.8 111.5
Industrial premises 284.1 287.0 287.8
The 1967 figures are based on a special count in that year, but are only provisional at present. Those for 1964 and is currently being undertaken will include an examination of the arrangements for auditing local authority transactions. As stated in the White Paper "Reform of Local Government in England" (Cmnd. 4276) the outcome of this examination will be reported in a Green Paper.