§ Lord Sefton of Garstonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consequences on resources and staff of the Civil Service the abolition of the Metropolitan County Councils will have.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)Until detailed decisions have been taken in the light of the consultations on the proposals set out in our White Paper (Cmnd. 9063), it is not possible to say what the consequences will be for Civil Service manpower and resources. No useful purpose would be served in making estimates until those decisions have been taken.
§ Lord Sefton of Garstonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will give details of "the heavy and unnecessary burdens on ratepayers" (mentioned in Cmnd. 9063, page 5) which were in the possession of the Government at the time of publication of the White Paper.
§ Lord BellwinOur White Paper makes it clear that we are proposing to abolish a superfluous tier of local government with its attendant bureacuracy and that the authorities concerned have consistently overspent, with inevitable consequences for their ratepayers.