§ Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department will advertise or take other steps to inform ratepayers in areas where Government spending guidelines have been exceeded that increased rate demands result from local rather than central Government policy.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe level of rates is the responsibility of individual local authorities, but if authorities plan to spend in line with their expenditure targets, rate increases should on average be very low. As soon as the figures are available, we will make available a list comparing 1983–84 budgets and targets for each authority. Ratepayers will then be able to draw their own conclusions.