§ Sir John StanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information is available to his Department as to the amount of debt that Kent county council had outstanding in each of the financial years 1992–93 to 1996–97, inclusive. [13175]
§ Mr. CurryThe available information for Kent county council is as follows:
Outstanding debt at end of financial year £ million 1992–93 355.4 1993–94 394.1 1994–95 429.5 1995–96 451.6 The figures include both long-term and short-term borrowing. Longer-term borrowing by authorities can be undertaken only to finance capital expenditure and is regulated by Government through the issue of credit approvals. The data for 1992–93 and 1993–94 are obtained from special surveys conducted by the Department of the Environment seeking information on the amount of outstanding longer-term debt and investment, and the later figures are estimates based on public works loan board data and transactions reported to the Department in the regular monthly and quarterly borrowing and lending inquiries.