§ Mr. John Evansasked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what criteria his Department assesses the size of local authority spending programmes in relation to their duties; and if he will list those local authorities whose establishments exceed an economic level as assessed by such criteria.
§ Mr. John SilkinI do not assess individual local authority spending programmes; local authorities are independent bodies responsible to their electorate. My Department recently, however, issued a Circular, 171/74, containing guidelines on expenditure totals and the consequences of keeping to them.