§ Mr. W. Benyonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in giving effect to the code of practice on local authority annual reports.
§ Mr. KingWhen the code was issued, local authorities were asked first to prepare annual reports on the year 1980–81, and in particular to make an early start on the publication of the comparative statistics specified in the code, and to seek fully to comply with the code in their reports on 1981–82.
I have also now arranged with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the publication of a new booklet containing a comprehensive collection of comparative statistics, including those specified in the code. This will ensure that figures which are of real use to councillors, rate-payers, and others interested in securing better performance and value for money in local government are widely available at the outset.
467WCopies of the booklet have been sent to local authorities to enable them to publish appropriate comparative statistics in their annual reports on 1980–81, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.