HC Deb 21 November 1978 vol 958 cc561-2W
Mr. Ward

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the value of rate support grant per head of population paid to local authorities in Cambridgeshire in 1978–79; what was the average rate income per head of population in that year; and what were the corresponding figures for the previous five years.

Mr. Guy Barnett

The amounts paid in rate support grant per head of population to local authorities in Cambridgeshire for each of the years from 1973–74 to 1977–78, and the latest estimates for 1978–79, together with the average rate income per head of population over the corresponding period, are set out below:

Grant per head Rate income per head
£ £
1973–74 59.5 44.9
1974–75 82.7 51.6
1975–76 105.1 63.3
1976–77 110.7 69.6
1977–78 102.7 86.1
1978–79 111.2 104.2

An increase order has yet to be made in respect of 1978–79.

mining; and what is the number that have been refused following public inquiry.

Mr. Marks

Planning applications for opencast coal mining are made only when a site is unlikely to produce more than 25,000 tons and the working is to he carried out by a private operator under licence from the National Coal Board. No information is available about the total number of such applications, but details of the cases which have come to the Secretary of State on appeal in each of the last five years are as follows: