§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales what, on the latest estimates available to him, is the total overspend of Welsh local authorities for 1981–82; and what action he proposes in respect thereof.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe 1981–82 Welsh rate support grant settlement provided for total local authority current expenditure of £1,034 million in cash terms—£966 at November 1980 prices. The latest estimate is that this will have been exceeded by 5.1 per cent—£52 million—in cash terms—2.2 per cent. or £20.8 million at November 1980 prices. We have made no decisions yet on the action we might take in the light of these figures and will be discussing them with the local authority associations later this month.