Local Government Finance (Hansard, 21 May 1992)

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authorities which came within 1 per cent. of the expenditure criteria he laid down for charge capping for 1992–93.

Mr. Squire
There are 126 authorities-94 charging and 32 precepting authorities—which have set budgets for 1992–93 within 1 per cent. of the limit implied by the principles which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has adopted for community charge limitation for 1992–93. These are as follows:
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Precepting authorities

Avon

Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

Cleveland

Cornwall

Cumbria

Derbyshire

Devon

Dorset

Durham

East Sussex

Hereford and Worcester

Hertfordshire

Humberside

Isle of Wight

Lancashire

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Norfolk

Northamptonshire

Northumberland

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Shropshire

Somerset

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Surrey

Wiltshire

Charging authorities

Adur

Barking and Dagenham

Barnet

Barnsley

Barrow-in-Furness

Birmingham

Blackburn

Bolton

Bradford

Brighton

Bristol

Burnley

Bury

Calderdale

Cambridge

Camden

Coventry

Crawley

Darlington

Derwentside

Doncaster

Dudley

Eastbourne

Enfield

Gateshead

Gloucester

Hackney

Hammersmith and Fulham

Haringey

Harlow

Harrow

Hartlepool

Hastings

Havering

Hillingdon

Hounslow

Hyndburn

Ipswich

Islington

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Thames

Kirk lees

Knowsley

Leeds

Leicester

Lewisham
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Liverpool

Manchester

Merton

Milton Keynes

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newham

North Tyneside

Norwich

Nottingham

Oxford

Pendle

Plymouth

Preston

Reading

Richmond upon Thames

Rochdale

Rossendale

Rotherham

Salford

Sandwell

Sefton

Sheffield

Shepway

Solihull

South Tyneside

Southampton

Southwark

St. Helens

Stevenage

Stockport

Sunderland

Sutton

Tameside

Thurrock

Tower Hamlets

Wakefield

Walsall

Waltham Forest

Wansbeck

Watford

Wear Valley

Welwyn Hatfield

West Wiltshire

Wigan

Wirral

Wolverhampton

York

§ Mr. Blunkett
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to make a statement before the summer recess on the outline 1993–94 financial settlement for local authorities.

§ Mr. Redwood
Although it has been the custom to announce in July each year the Government's proposals for total standard spending and aggregate external finance, there are exceptional circumstances this year in relation to the revenue support grant settlement for 1993–94. First, in fixing these aggregates we shall want to take into account the implications for the level of council tax and for the transitional arrangements. These will in part turn on the results of the valuation of properties, which will not be available until September. Secondly, we shall want to look closely at the financing of community care. We have therefore decided to postpone an announcement of total standard spending and aggregate external finance until the autumn when our detailed proposals for the revenue support grant settlement will also be announced. I believe that it is to the advantage of local government that we should postpone these decisions this year. Similar considerations apply in Scotland and Wales and my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales will also be postponing decisions on the aggregates of the settlements for Scotland and Wales until the autumn.