§ Mr. Ledgerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) what was the administrative cost of the London County Council in the year 1963–64 and the administrative cost of the Greater London Council in the year 1965–66;
(2) what were the total administrative costs of the local authorities in the London County Council area in the year 1962–63 and for the councils covering the same area under the Greater London Council in 1965–66.
§ Mr. MellishFigures of administrative cost as such are not available, but figures of general administrative expenditure are given below. They are mainly drawn from the epitomes of accounts which local authorities send in annually. These epitomes are summaries of the local authorities' own accounts, the form of which is not standard. Differences in the treatment of expenditure between former authorities and successor authorities are therefore to be expected and so are differences between existing authorities. Different proportions of expenditure on (for example) employees may be charged to general administrative expenses or to the individual services; expenditure charged in the first instance to general administrative expenses may in differing proportions be charged out again to the services to which it relates; and authorities differ in the way in which expenditure on 39W premises is treated. Apart from absence of uniformity in the build-up of the figures, the functions of the authorities
Total General Administrative Expenses Charged out to services, etc. Col. (1) net of Col. (2) (1) (2) (3) £ £ £ 1962–63 (Metropolitan Boroughs and City of London) 7,405,258 2,865,095 4,540,163 1965–66 (Inner London Boroughs and City of London) 16,552,333 10,425,418 6,126,915 With regard to the administrative cost of the L.C.C. and the G.L.C., the figures below for 1965–66 relate to the general administrative expenses of the G.L.C. including those of the Inner London Edu-
Total General Administrative Expenses Charged out to services, etc. Col. (1) net of Col. (2) (1) (2) (3) £ £ £ 1963–64 (L.C.C.) … … … 17,378,164 15,987,388 1,390,776 1965–66 (G.L.C.) … … … 22,584,859 20,177,889 2,406,970