§ Mr. Patrick ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the proposed new accounting framework for local authority support services cost, outlined in the consultation paper "Competing for Quality: Competition in the Provision of Local Services", November 1991.
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§ Mr. BaldryThis Government are committed to bringing the benefits of competition to all public services. When he announced the Government's decision to extend compulsory competitive tendering to local authorities' professional and corporate services on 10 November 1992, column744, my right hon. and learned Friend the then Secretary of State for the Environment also made clear he intended to require local authorities to account for the cost of these services under a rigorous and comprehensive statutory accounting framework.
I am pleased to announce that my Department is today publishing a consultation paper setting out detailed proposals for requiring local authorities to prepare and publish a statement of support service costs. This statement, which will be published with an authority's annual accounts and be subject to audit, will illustrate the full cost, including overheads, of each of the professional and corporate services to the authority and show how this cost is borne by front-line service departments. A copy of the consultation paper will be placed in the Library of the House.
Requiring local authorities to publish the cost of procuring or providing support services will stimulate the challenging of these costs by both internal customers and by local taxpayers, and promote the development of fair competition and a proper choice between internal and external service providers. It will also, I believe, encourage comparisons between similar authorities, thus increasing pressure for greater efficiency and value for money.
These proposals have been developed by Government following detailed discussions with representatives of local authorities, the audit and accounts commissions and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accoutancy. Consultation with local authorities and other interested parties will end on 29 April. The new requirement to keep an SSSC will be introduced by regulations made under section 23 of the Local Government Finance Act 1983 soon after that. The first authorities will be required to publish an SSSC for the financial year 1994–95.