§ Mr. Michel Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he is now in a position to give a figure for the cost of local authority staffing and administration charged out to community land accounts in 1977–78; and, if not, when he anticipates being able to provide this information;
(2) whether he is now in a position to give details for 1977–78 of the total level of (a) expenditure, (b) income, (c) deficit or (d) surplus for English local authorities in 1977–78 in their community land accounts; and, if not, when he expects to be able to provide this information.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettAll but 24 of the land accounts for 1977–78 have now been received. On this basis £3.0 million was
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Acres acquired Up to 31st March 1978 County area Housing Industry Other uses(including commerce) Total Up to 31st March 1977 Total Avon … … … 0 17 0 17 0 Bedfordshire … … … 12 0 1 14 11 Berkshire … … … 0 2 1 3 3 Buckinghamshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cambridgeshire … … … 0 1 0 1 0 Cheshire … … … 2 17 0 19 17 Cleveland … … … 82 16 1 99 8 Cornwall … … … 0 22 0 22 6 Cumbria … … … 4 73 0 76 46 Derbyshire … … … 43 5 0 48 45 Devon … … … 14 35 1 49 17 Dorset … … … 26 17 0 43 29 Durham … … … 41 19 0 60 52 East Sussex … … … 37 1 2 40 21 Essex … … … 2 0 14 16 10 Gloucestershire … … … 0 24 0 24 0 Greater London … … … 8 20 5 32 16 Greater Manchester … … … 10 40 4 53 23 Hampshire … … … 28 31 0 59 30 Hereford and Worcestershire … … … 10 38 0 48 21 Hertfordshire … … … 13 0 1 14 1 Humberside … … … 21 48 0 70 61 charged out to community land accounts for staffing and administration in 1977–78.
The other figures requested, on the same basis, are
1977–78 £ million Expenditure 16.9 Income 5.1 Deficit 11.8 The expenditure figure includes the £ 3.0 million for staffing and administration.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now give for each county council the total number of acres acquired and disposed of, indicating the intended use in each case, under the Community Land Act; whether he will compare this in tabular form with the information provided for 1976–77. Official Report, 17th November 1977, columns 371–2; and when he expects to be also to provide this information if it is not yet available.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettThe following tables give provisional figures of land acquired and disposed of up to 31st March 1978 for each county area, with intended use. The latest total figures up to 31st March 1977 are given for comparison. Final figures for 1977–78 will be available only when all authorities have submitted their statements of account.
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Acres acquired Up to 31st March 1978 County area Housing Industry Other uses(including commerce) Total Up to 31st March 1977 Total Isle of Wight … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Ken … … … 56 37 0 93 42 Lancashire … … … 8 9 1 18 2 Leicester … … … 0 51 0 51 51 Lincolnshire … … … 0 27 0 27 18 Merseyside … … … 87 10 0 98 89 Norfolk … … … 2 9 0 11 11 Northamptonshire … … 21 1 0 22 22 Northumberland … … … 106 20 0 126 77 North Yorkshire … … … 33 14 0 47 19 Nottinghamshire … … … 73 7 0 80 52 Oxfordshire … … … 5 0 0 5 5 Salop … … … 0 3 0 3 0 Somerset … … … 20 0 35 55 55 South Yorkshire … … … 103 151 0 254 234 Staffordshire … … … 183 47 7 237 224 Suffolk … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Surrey … … … 8 0 7 15 10 Tyne and Wear … … … 43 101 3 147 125 Warwickshire … … … 0 0 10 10 10 West Midlands … … … 107 27 21 155 132 West Sussex … … … 0 0 0 0 0 West Yorkshire … … … 11 87 0 98 47 Wiltshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0
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Acres disposed of County area Housing Industry Other (including commerce) Total Including Total 1976–77 Avon … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Bedfordshire … … … 0 0 1 1 0 Berkshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Buckinghamshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cambridgeshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cheshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cornwall … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Cumbria … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Derbyshire … … … 0 3 0 3 0 Devon … … … 14 0 0 14 0 Dorset … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Durham … … … 0 3 0 3 2 East Sussex … … … 1 1 1 2 1 Essex … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Gloucestershire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Greater London … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Greater Manchester … … 0 0 0 0 0 Hampshire … … … 11 1 0 12 0 Hereford and Worcestershire … 3 4 0 7 0 Hertfordshire … … … 13 0 0 13 0 Humberside … … … 1 0 0 1 0 Isle of Wight … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Kent … … … 3 0 0 3 0 Lancashire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Leicester … … … 0 8 0 8 0 Lincolnshire … … … 0 2 0 2 0 Merseyside … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Norfolk … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Northamptonshire … … 0 0 0 0 0 Northumberland … … … 31 7 0 39 28 North Yorkshire … … … 0 1 0 1 0 Nottinghamshire … … … 0 2 0 2 0 Oxfordshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Salop … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Somerset … … … 0 0 1 1 0 South Yorkshire … … … 16 1 0 17 6 Staffordshire … … … 8 4 0 12 0 Suffolk … … … 0 0 0 0 0
Acres disposed of County area Housing Industry Other (including commerce) Total Including total 1979–77 Surrey … … … 2 0 1 2 1 Tyne and Wear … … … 0 0 0 0 0 Warwickshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0 West Midlands … … … 9 0 0 10 0 West Sussex … … … 0 0 0 0 0 West Yorkshire … … … 0 5 0 5 3 Wiltshire … … … 0 0 0 0 0
§ Mr. Michel Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is now in a position to give details of the total acreage disposed of by local authorities in 1977–78 of land acquired for (a) industry, (b) commerce and (c) housing under the Community Land Act; how much of the land disposed of under each category had been acquired in 1976–77 and how much in 1977–78; and, if this information is not yet available, when he expects to be in a position to provide it.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettThe following table gives the latest provisional figures for the information requested. Firm figures will only be available when all local authorities have submitted their statements of account.
ACREAGE DISPOSED OF IN 1977–78 Acquired in 1976–77 1977–78 Total Proposed use (acres) (acres) (acres) Housing 56 28 84 Industry 22 8 30 Other (including commerce) 2 1 3 Totals 80 37 117
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will bring up to date, since the reply by the hon. Member for Greenwich (Mr. Barnett), Official Report, 17th July, columns 86–88, the information regarding orders, regulations, circulars, directions, development advice notes and guidance notes under the Community Land Act.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettThe following should be added to the information I gave the hon. Member on 17th July:
Directions and Date made
The Community Land Accounts (Warwickshire) Special Direction 1978–23rd March 1978.
662WThe Community Land Accounts (Suffolk Coastal District Council No. 2) Special Direction 1978–31st March 1978.
The Community Land Accounts (Chesterfield Borough Council No. 2) Special Direction 1978–12th July 1978.
The Community Land Accounts (Middlesbrough Borough Council) Special Direction 1978–21st August 1978.
The Community Land Accounts (Sedgefield District Council) Special Direction 1978–10th November 1978.
I regret that the first three items were inadvertently omitted from my earlier reply.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will elucidate and explain the apparent discrepancy between the Answer to the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Mr. Gould) that two-thirds of the allocated loan sanction of £25 million in 1976–77 under the Community Land Act was actually taken up by local authorities Official Report, 24th April, column 477, and the reply to the hon. Member for Melton, Official Report, 17th July, column 86, that £12.78 million was actually spent, being only 51 per cent.; what distinction is drawn in his departmental accounting between taking up loan sanction and spending it; and if he will investigate the reasons for any discrepancy.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettThere is no discrepancy. The Question answered on 24th April was in general terms, and the Answer therefore covered the aggregate of expenditure—on infrastructure works, administration and interest as well as on land acquisitions; the Question to which an Answer was given on 17th July dealt with land acquisitions only. In the Answer of 24th April, the phrase "taken up" was not used as a term of art but as a reflection of the wording of the question. It meant the same as "spent".