§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in view of the increase in costs being experienced by domestic ratepayers, he will seek to identify those areas of local government activity where financial responsibility could be transferred to central revenues.
§ Mr. OakesI am considering this, but an objection would be that the separation of financial and operational responsibility for major local services would undermine the operation of local democracy.
§ Mr. Eyreasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will immediately appoint a panel of experts to inquire urgently into alternative methods of financing local authority expenditure, 360W such as a local income tax system, a payroll tax, fees chargeable upon substantial planning applications and transferring a higher proportion of educational costs to the Exchequer.
§ Mr. OakesNo. Except for fees chargeable on planning applications, these alternative sources of revenue were analysed in the green paper "The future shape of Local Government Finance" published by the administration of which the hon. Gentleman was a member. I do not think a panel of experts is the right way of overcoming the difficulties inherent in these alternatives.
The question of fees for planning applications will be considered in the light of Mr. Dobry's conclusions on this matter in the final report of his review of the development control system.