§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will review the present system of approval of capital expenditure projects of local authorities by his Department, in order to allow the local authorities a greater flexibility in determining their own priorities.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI have reviewed the system for specifying the local authority capital expenditure allocations to be made in 1982–83. Each local authority in Wales will make a single bid for all its capital expenditure projects and I shall specify one capital expenditure allocation for each authority. Subject to any designated schemes of national or regional importance, an authority may use its allocation for capital projects as it sees fit. I shall indicate my view of priorities by stating the total amount included for each service within the overall Welsh capital expenditure allocation. A separate announcement will be made of the amounts assumed in each authority's allocation for housing.