§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which international rules and conventions require United Kingdom local authority self-financing expenditure to be categorised as public expenditure; and which states adhere to these rules and conventions.
§ Mr. Portillo[holding answer 30 June 1994]: Local authorities are part of the public sector and their expenditure is public expenditure. All local authority expenditure, including self-financed expenditure, in the United Kingdom has, for many years, been included in general Government spending under international conventions. These conventions were restated most recently in the "System of National Accounts", published jointly by the Commission of the European Communities, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations and World Bank at the end of last year. It is expected that all European Union and European Free Trade Association countries will produce accounts on this basis.