§ Sir F. Markhamasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what machinery is in force for checking and revising local government expenditure.
§ Mr. H. BrookeLocal government expenditure is the statutory responsibility of the local authorities concerned with the several services, and they are answerable to their local electorates. In general, capital expenditure for which borrowing is required involves Ministerial sanction; but the Central Government have no general powers of checking or revising expenditure out of revenue except in so far as certain parts of it, if approved, may be assisted by Exchequer grants. Important proposals for changing the basis of a number of grants are contained in the local Government Bill. After the end of each financial year returns of local government expenditure on both capital and revenue account are collected and presented to Parliament in summary form as "Local Government Financial Statistics, England and Wales".