§ 41. Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the reasons for the discrepancy between the rate of borrowing from public source of 9.6 per cent. payable by local authorities for house building and the rate of 17 per cent. currently payable by the Anglia Water Authority.
§ Mr. Oakes:The two rates are not comparable. 9.6 per cent. is the estimated average rate of interest payable in 1974–75 on all outstanding local authority borrowings no matter when they were made. 17 per cent. is the actual rate of interest payable on loans for 25 years raised from the National Loans Fund at the beginning of this year. It is the same as local authorities would be paying on loans raised at that date from the Public Works Loan Board.