§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide details of the agreement with Liverpool council on the rescheduling of their debts; what will be the effect of these changes on possible rate support grant penalties; and if the facility will be available to other councils.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinIt is open to any local authority to decide to reschedule its debt redemption and I understand that Liverpool city council has done so.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the amount of spending which the city of Liverpool will be able to incur in areas regarded as revenue spending before his recent discussions with the city officials during the forthcoming financial year.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinI have made no such estimate. The council initially planned a growth budget of £261 million and a rate increase of only 9 per cent.; this left a huge gap of £164 million which the council said the Government would have to fill if services were not to crumble. The council has now resolved to accept a balanced budget of £223 million with a district rate increase of 18 per cent.; none of this reduction of £38 million is financed by special concessions from the Government.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will explain the circumstances under which it will be possible for Liverpool city council to exceed its spending target of £216,000,000 by over £40,000,000 without incurring any rate support grant penalty; and if he is willing to make similar arrangements with other councils.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinI have made no special arrangements which will affect Liverpool's grant entitlement for 1984–85. As with any other authority it will be subject to grant penalties for overspending its target.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) why he decided to provide an additional sum of urban aid to the city of Liverpool; how much 54W additional cash has been provided and in respect of what period; and if the aid is in respect of capital or revenue spending;
(2) if he will list the various projects in the city of Liverpool for which additional urban aid has been granted; and if there were any conditions attached to the grant on the time scale within which the projects are required to be completed.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinLiverpool's inner city partnership programme for 1984–85 has yet to be finally settled. However, in response to the city's acute inner city problems I have offered the council an additional £2½ million for 1984–85 from within my Department's total budget.
Details of the package, which will consist entirely of revenue items, are still being worked out by officials, but will probably include environmental maintenance in selected housing areas, running costs of recreation facilities already provided by the urban programme, selected voluntary sector schemes and continuation of the additional street cleaning and nursery classes previously funded through the inner city partnership. As with the whole of the urban programme a Minister will personally approve each scheme.
The whole of this marginal contribution to Liverpool 's partnership allocation could have been secured much earlier had the council been prepared to engage in normal discussions with my Department on its programmes.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the reduction in rate support grant penalties which will be secured by Liverpool council in consequence of the additional urban aid granted to the city.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinAbout £5 million.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide details of the agreement with Liverpool council concerning capitalising revenue spending on housing; what will be the effect of the changes on possible rate support grant penalties; and if the facility will be available to other councils.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinIn framing its expenditure plans, Liverpool city council, in common with all other local authorities, will have taken decisions about whether certain expenditure is most appropriately charged to revenue or capital account. The Government took no part in that decision.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide details of the agreement with Liverpool council on the alteration on rating liability for schools affected by falling pupil numbers; what will be the effect of these changes on possible rate support grant penalties; and if this facility will be available to other councils faced with falling pupil numbers.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe council's rate liability for its schools, like that of all local authorities, is assessed on the basis of rateable values arrived at by the valuation officer in accordance with a formula agreed in 1971, which enables pupil numbers to be taken into account as one of many factors influencing rateable values.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide details of the extra sums provided to the city of Liverpool for environmental work.
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§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThere are no extra sums for environmental works. Payments on this count relate to claims the city council ought to have made earlier in the normal course of business.
§ Mr. Dicksasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give details of the agreement reached between the Government and Liverpool city council which enabled that local authority to levy a rate for 1984–85;
(2) if he will estimate (a) the value to Liverpool city council and (b) the cost to his Department of the agreement recently reached by him with the city council.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinI have made no special agreements with Liverpool city council about its budget. As compared with its earlier proposals the council has reduced its spending plans by £38 million. None of this reduction is financed by special concessions from Government.
§ Mr. Dicksasked the Secretary of State for the Environment following his recent agreement with Liverpool city council, if he will indicate whether there was any switching of money between the revenue and capital spending of Liverpool city council so as to enable rate-borne spending to be reduced.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinI have made no special agreements with Liverpool city council about its budget. I understand that the council has now decided that certain expenditure which hitherto it was planning to charge to revenue account will now be charged to capital account. It has always been open to it, as to other authorities, to take such a decision in respect of certain categories of expenditure.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) following the meeting on Monday last at his Department between Ministers and representatives of Liverpool city council, what agreement was made about press statements by either side;
(2) why Ministers refused, for 24 hours, to make any comment to counter the version of their meeting with Ministers on 9 July promulgated by Liverpool's representatives.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinAt my meeting on 9 July with the Liverpool city council delegation, we agreed that neither side would say anything to the press after the meeting, with a view to giving the councillors time to persuade the district labour party to accept what was in effect a humiliating climbdown by the Labour group, namely, the budget and rate which were finally settled on Wednesday, 11 July. I kept my word.
After certain Liverpool councillors made extravagant and untrue claims on the evening of Monday 9 July, I issued a brief statement the following morning which was carried in the later editions of the Liverpool evening press the same day. It is a matter for regret that so many national commentators swallowed the councillors' line and ignored the Government's rebuttal.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why his Department made available to Liverpool's representatives a room and facilities for press, radio and television.
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§ Mr. Patrick JenkinIt is a normal courtesy when delegations from local authorities visit Ministers in my Department to make available facilities for them to speak to the press should they request them.
The Liverpool delegation has asked for, and has been given, such facilities on each of its visits to the Department. When Ministers visit local authorities the courtesy is reciprocated—as for instance after my visit to Liverpool housing estates on 7 June.