§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to restrain the growth of local authority expenditure in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesDistrict councils in Northern Ireland are responsible for a much smaller range of services than local authorities in Great Britain; their total annual expenditure amounts to approximately £40 million. Like local authorities in Great Britain they enjoy a large measure of freedom in determining the level of their current expenditure, but capital expenditure is controlled through the requirement to seek loan sanctions from Government Departments.
Because of the significance of local government expenditure in terms of the national economy I have arranged to have regular meetings with representatives of the Association of Local Authorities of Northern Ireland to discuss, with special reference to the need to deploy resources economically and in accordance with the broad policy of Government, matters of common interest to central and local government which have public expenditure implications. These meetings, the first of which was held in December 1975, follow a pattern similar to that set by the Consultative Council for Local Government Finance for England and Wales.