§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward legislation to provide for new local government accounting standards, so as to enable clear distinctions to be drawn in local authority accounts between income from ratepayers, income from taxpayers, income from fees and charges and total income, respectively.
§ Mr. KingThe way in which local authorities' total income should be presented is relevant to the Government's proposals on the disclosure by local authorities of financial and other information about the services they provide. These proposals are set out in a recently published consultation document, a copy of which is in the Library.
I will ensure that my hon. Friend's suggestion is taken into account in the discussions that my officials will be having with the local authority associations, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and other interested parties about these issues.