§ Mr. Chopeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the impact on ratepayers if all council services were subject to competitive tender.
§ Mrs. RumboldIt is not possible to estimate what savings would result from exposing all local authority services to competition.
However, authorities spend well over £2,000 million annually on the six services for which the Government have proposed legislation, so even modest percentage savings would be substantial in absolute terms.