§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what he estimates is the total cost of local authority expenditure for the year ending with the date of local government reorganisation next April; how this figure compares with the five previous years; and how much of the current year's expenditure he estimates has been initiated by local authorities which will lose their independent financial status under reorganisation.
§ Mr. Graham PageThe total relevant current expenditure on rate fund services in England and Wales in 1973–74 is estimated in the Rate Support Grant (Increase) (No. 2) Order 1973 as £5,613 million. The corresponding estimates in previous years were as follows:
Year Relevant Exenditure £ millions 1968–69 2,783 1969–70 3,144 1970–71 3,593 1971–72 4,116 1972–73 4,735 The financial status of nearly every local authority will change as a result of reorganisation; no estimates have been made of the 1973–74 expenditure of any particular class of authority.
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