§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will meet directors of the Greater London Enterprise Board to discuss the levels of investment it will be able to make in job creation and job preservation projects within the grant limits totalling £4.9 million which he recently approved.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMy right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government met representatives of the Greater London council and the Greater London Enterprise Board 145W last month to discuss the council's proposals for providing funding for the board under section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972. It is understood that the sum of £4.896 million approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 7 of the Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984 following that meeting will enable the board to discharge contractual liabilities arising throughout 1985–86, to meet its staffing and overheads costs in the first quarter of the year, and otherwise provide finance for a measure of continuity for such other investment activities as the board wishes to undertake.
In considering any applications for consent to further expenditure under section 137 by the GLC for funding of the Greater London Enterprise Board in 1985–86 my right hon. Friend will wish to take into account, inter alia, the extent to which the liabilities of the GLC will survive abolition of the council and also whether adequate arrangements exist for ensuring, after abolition of the GLC, that the board will be accountable to ratepayers for the application of funds provided by the council.