§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of the proposed Welsh Consolidated Fund would, using current figures, be drawn from moneys allocated to local authorities in response to their applications for rate support grant and other forms of aid through the standard existing procedure if the Wales Act 1978 were in operation at present.
§ Mr. John MorrisRate support grant payments to Welsh local authorities will be drawn from the Welsh Consolidated Fund and not vice versa. On the basis of 1977–78 data, local authority current expenditure financed by rate support grant and specific grant would have formed about 39 per cent. of the total cash requirement of the Welsh Consolidated Fund if it had existed in that year. It will be for the Welsh Assembly, following statutory consultation with Welsh local authorities, to determine the level of rate support grant payments.