§ Dr. Glynasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in the light of heavy costs of accounting and administration, he will amend his proposal to fix the limit of £5,000 exclusion for equipment expenditure by local authorities from the control provisions in the Local Government, Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill by raising it to £20,000.
§ Mr. KingI appreciate my hon. Friend's concern on the need to avoid heavy accounting and administration costs. It is our intention that the new system should not result in any significant increase in such costs.
§ Dr. Glynasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in order to reduce accounting costs, if he will take steps to simplify the controls over direct labour organisations by excluding maintenance work on buildings and highways from the provisions of the Local Government. Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill.
§ Mr. KingI appreciate my hon. Friend's concern, but four-fifths of direct labour output is maintenance work. It is therefore essential for this activity to be properly regulated and accounted for. However, I share my hon. Friend's concern to establish the simplest possible controls consistent with this aim. There will clearly be opportunities to debate these provisions of the Local Government Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill during its passage through the House.