HC Deb 26 March 2002 vol 382 cc963-6W
Mr. Laurence Robertson

To 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. Whitehead

The 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 total 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 Robertson

To 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. Whitehead

The 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:

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

Mr. Laurence Robertson

To 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 Keeble

Our 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.

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