§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what is the total borrowing figure for Solihull district council. [23803]
§ Dr. WhiteheadI have been asked to reply.
The total debt (long and short-term) for Solihull, as at March 2001, was about £85 million.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what is the average annual contribution to council tax per council tax payer in England and Wales that is attributable to repayments and interest on borrowing. [23805]
§ Dr. WhiteheadI have been asked to reply.
It is not possible to quantify separately the amounts attributable to English local authority debt repayments and interest on borrowing that are financed by council taxes.
Welsh figures are a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average total borrowing is for(a) all and (b) district councils in England and Wales. [23804]
§ Dr. WhiteheadI have been asked to reply.
The average total debt (long and short-term) for English local authorities, as at March 2001, was about £132 million. This figure covers London boroughs, Metropolitan districts, Unitary authorities, Shire counties and Shire districts.
The average total debt for Metropolitan districts is about £368 million and for Shire districts is about £14 million.
It should be noted that authorities with high levels of debt are generally those which have undertaken capital investment and that long-term borrowing to finance capital expenditure is regulated by Government through the issue of credit approvals.