§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average level of local authority debt in England is(a) in cash terms and (b) as a percentage of their budget; and if he will make a statement. [46039]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe average level of local authority debt in England, as at 31 March 2001, is £95 million per local authority. This figure is 70 per cent. of their total964W budgeted revenue expenditure for 2001–02. These figures cover the London boroughs, Metropolitan Districts, Unitary authorities, Shire counties, Shire districts and the Isles of Scilly.
Local authority debt finances capital investment. Long-term borrowing to finance capital expenditure is regulated by Government through the issue of credit approvals.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the debt-free authorities in England, broken down by the parties which control them. [46038]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe 108 English local authorities listed below, together with the parties which control them, have reported that they had debt-free status as at 30 September 2001:
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Local Authority Political control Barking and Dagenham Lab Basingstoke and Deane Noc Bath and NE Somerset Noc Bedford Noc Bracknell Forest UA Con Breckland Con Broadland Con Bromley Con Bromsgrove Con Broxbourne Con Chichester Con Cihltern Con Christchurch Con City of London Oth Congleton LDem Corby Lab Cotswold Noc Crawley Lab Dacorum Con Dartford Lab Daventry Con Dorset Con Est Cambridgeshire LDem East Devon Con East Dorset Con East Hampshire Con Eden Ind Elmbridge Noc Epsom and Ewell Ind Forest Heath Con Fylde Noc Hambleton Con Harlow Lab Hart Con Havant Noc Hertsmere Con Horsham Con Huntingdonshire Con Kennet Con Lichfield Con Malvern Hills Noc Mid Bedfordshire Con Mid Sussex Con Mole Valley Noc North Devon LDem North Dorset Con North Wiltshire Noc Penwith Noc Redditch Lab Reigate and Banstead Con Runnymede Con Rushmoor Con
local authority Political control Ryedale Noc Salisbury Noc Sevenoaks Con South Bucks Con South Cambridgeshire Noc South Hams Con South Northamptonshire Con South Oxfordshire Noc South Kibble Noc South Shropshire Ind South Somerset LDem South Staffordshire Con Spelthorne Con St. Edmundsbury Con Staffordshire Moorlands Noc Stevenage Lab Stratford-on-Avon Con Suffolk Coastal Con Surrey Heath Con Swale Noc Tandridge Con Tewkesbury Noc Three Rivers LDem Tonbridge and Mailing Noc Tunbridge Wells Con Tynedale Noc Uttlesford Noc Vale of White Horse LDem Watford Noc Waverley Con Welwyn Hatfield Lab West Berkshire UA LDem West Wiltshire LDem Windsor and Maidenhead UA Noc Worthing Con Wychavon Con Wycombe Con Wyre Con Wyre Forest Noc cambridgeshire police authority Dorset police authority Kent police authority Merseyside police authority Suffolk police authority Sussex police authority Wiltshire police authority Dartmoor Natonal Park Authority Exmoor Natonal Park Authority Lake District Natonal Park North York Moors Natonal Park Authority Northumberland Natonal Park Authority Peak Natonal Park The broads Authority Yorkshire Dales Natonal Park Authority North London Waste Authority Greater London Authority Source
Capital Payments and Receipts (CPR2) 2001–02
Definition: An authority is debt-free if (a) at 31 March 2001, the authority's credit ceiling was nil or a negative amount and (b) at 30 September 2001, the authority had no money outstanding by way of external borrowing other than short-term borrowing or hard to redeem debt, as defined in Regulation 154 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance) Regulations 1997.
Con = Conservative
Ind = Independent
Lab = Labour
Noc = No Overall Control
LDem = Liberal Democrat
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§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proposals he has to require debt-free local authorities to pay into a central fund. [46037]
§ Ms KeebleOur proposals for local government funding are set out in the recent Local Government White Paper—"Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services". They include the introduction of an arrangement for pooling a proportion of housing capital receipts arising in debt-free authorities to fund new housing investment where the need is greatest. This will mirror the arrangements that apply to non debt-free authorities. We are not proposing that this pooling should apply to receipts already realised.