§ Mt. Longdenasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will take steps to require local authorities to publish full annual reports and accounts for all trading services to be made available within six months of the end of the financial year.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonMost local authorities are already required to make all of their accounts available for public inspection before audit by the district auditor, and to make available an abstract of accounts for inspection; authorities not wholly subject to district audit are similarly required to make available for public inspection such of their accounts as are subject to district audit, and to make available an abstract of all their accounts.
319WLocal authority accounts of all kinds should be produced as soon as practicable after the period to which they relate, but my right hon. Friend is not convinced of the desirability of statutorily placing a time limit on these processes or of requiring an annual report on trading activities.