§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the information he has collected on the accumulated capital receipts held by local authorities at the end of 1985–86.
§ Mr. RidleyMy Department has now received accumulated capital receipts returns for 1985–86 from 97 per cent. of English local authorities. On the basis of these, it is estimated that at the end of 1985–86 local authorities240W in England held accumulated receipts giving rise to spending permission in later years of £7.4 billion. Some of these receipts were notional, such as leasing disposals. The cash from much of the remainder had been used for such purposes as repaying debt and financing capitalised housing repairs. After allowing for such factors only £4.3 billion out of the £7.4 billion spending permission could be converted into cash. But very little even of this £4.3 billion was actually held on deposit at a bank. Most of it had been temporarily lent within the authority and spent for other purposes. In such instances it could only be turned into cash if the authority undertook further borrowing.
I have today placed in the Library a table showing for each local authority which has provided a return (a) the accumulated receipts giving rise to spending permission and (b) the amount which could be converted into cash.