§ 66 Mr. Fortescueasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will define and give examples of the exceptional circumstances in which extra-statutory assistance is given from the Exchequer to local authorities.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonNo exact definition is possible, but this kind of assistance has been given where as a result of some major disaster local authorities are faced with expenditure which would place an excessive burden on the rates.
Examples in which assistance was given to local authorities are the Lyn-mouth disaster, the East Coast floods, the 1962 gales and the stranding of the Torrey Canyon.