§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the(a) exchange of letters between spending Departments and the Treasury, (b) official level bilateral meetings, (c) ministerial level bilateral meeting and (d) the EDX process—the Ministerial Committee on Public Expenditure—will take place during 1995 as part of the public expenditure round; and what part the representatives of local government will play in this public expenditure round.
§ Mr. AitkenThe detailed timetable for the 1995 public expenditure survey has not yet been set. The process starts in the spring, but Treasury and spending Departments are in regular contact throughout. Most of EDX's meetings take place in September and October.
Ministers from Departments with an interest in local government and their officials have regular discussions on service and expenditure issues with the local authority associations and individual authorities, and consider written representations from them. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and other interested Ministers meet the chairs of the local authority associations at the Central Council on Local Government Finance in July and October. Ministers take account of the views expressed by these means, along with those of other groups, in making public expenditure decisions.