§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales how much of the increase in local authority expenditure referred to in Command Paper No. 4234, and how much of the recently agreed increase in the rate support grant, respectively, are attributable to Welsh local authorities.
§ Mr. George ThomasThe White Paper gives only a broad indication of the prospective growth of local authority expenditure and for some important services separate figures for Wales are not available.
The calculation of the distribution to individual authorities of the rate support 508W grants provided by the Rate Support Grant (Increase) Order, 1969, is still in progress and the results will be notified to local authorities early in January. The exact total payable to Welsh authorities will not be known before then, but the increase in their entitlement for 1969–70 is expected to amount to about £5½ million. The revised amount will reflect changes in data subsequent to the original estimate as well as the increase in the total grant.