§ Mr. J. Howardasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department his estimate of the cost to the taxpayer and ratepayer of the recent local government elections; and how much he estimates would be saved over three years if all local government elections were triennial.
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§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeAccording to the Local Government Financial Statistics for England and Wales presented to Parliament by the Minister of Housing and Local Government the net expenditure from the rates on council elections was £415,000 in 1953. This is the latest available figure, and the expenditure in 1956 would be of the same order. There
52Wis no direct charge to the taxpayer, but approximately 16 per cent. of local authorities' net expenditure on all services is met out of equalisation grants. There would be some saving if all local government elections were triennial, but the time and labour required to produce an estimate of any value would be quite disproportionate to its accuracy.