HC Deb 16 January 1984 vol 52 cc89-92W
Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he can yet state what existing Acts will have to be amended or repealed should the Greater London council be abolished.

Mr. Waldegrave

No.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many electors would be represented by each of the borough council and common council members on the proposed new fire authority, in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council.

Mr. Waldegrave

We propose that the joint board for fire in Greater London should comprise one member from each borough council and from the common council of the City of London. The numbers of local government electors in the boroughs on the 1983 register range from 98,740 (Hammersmith and Fulham) to 244,659 (Croydon). The City has 4,811 electors.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what benefits, financial and administrative, he anticipates will devolve from the fragmentation of the Greater London council home loan repayments organisation in the event of the Greater London council being abolished.

Sir George Young

Most primary housing authorities already deal with mortgage repayments and we have proposed that the ex-GLC work will be added to their existing activities. We believe that the devolution to borough and district councils of GLC functions generally will enable substantial savings in administrative costs to be secured.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, what statutory obligations of the Greater London council to renovate transferred housing are currently expected to remain uncompleted on the date of the proposed abolition; to which authorities will they be devolved; and what is the current expected cost for each authority in capital terms and in revenue consequences.

Sir George Young

The amount and distribution of renovation and repair work not completed when the GLC is abolished will depend upon the progress made by the council up to that date and the priorities it adopts in consultation with the transferee authorities as required by the various housing transfer orders. Further work will become part of the normal responsibilities of the transferee authorities.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial arrangements will be made for transferee authorities to complete outstanding renovations in housing investment programme authorisations and in relation to grant-related expenditure assessments, block grants and overspending penalties in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council.

Sir George Young

After abolition the entire London HIP allocation will be distributed among the London boroughs alone, taking account of their needs for expenditure on ex-GLC dwellings. The cost of the renovation work they undertake will be included in the calculation of borough subsidy entitlements. Any costs borne by borough rate funds will count as total expenditure on which block grant is paid; we will be considering with the boroughs what adjustments to GRE assessments will be necessary. It is intended that the proposed London residuary body will accept up to 1992 such liability as would have fallen to the GLC for financing work to rectify major technical problems in transferred and town development scheme dwellings outside London.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements will be made for funding the revenue deficits of transferred housing in the event of the Greater London council being abolished.

Sir George Young

I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 3 and 5 of my Department's consultation paper "Streamlining the Cities: Housing" issued on 21 October, a copy of which I have placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, who will be statutorily responsible for continuing submission and agreement of subsidy and other claims arising from the activities of the council.

Mr. Waldegrave

The bodies to which functions will be statutorily transferred.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, to whom will individual purchasers of ex-Greater London council dwellings be able to look for remedies under terms of their Greater London council warranty.

Sir George Young

It is proposed that general liabilities will become the responsibility of the London residuary body; more specific housing liabilities will pass to the councils of the primary housing authorities. No decision about responsibility for GLC warranties has yet been taken.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what authority will be responsible for representing the views of London as a whole in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council.

Mr. Waldegrave

I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 2.30 of the White Paper "Streamlining the Cities" (Cmnd. 9063).

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what additional resources will be made available to London boroughs to replace the Greater London Council's activity in housing action areas and loans to housing associations, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished.

Sir George Young

These activities are currently funded by the use of the prescribed proportion of capital receipts, which will continue to accrue to the London Boroughs in so far as they relate to assets transferred to them under the proposals put forward in "Streamlining the Cities" and related consultation papers

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Government intend to make extra funds available to Bromley borough council to enable that authority to take over the running of Crystal Palace park in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council; how much extra finance is involved; and what other borough councils will be offered extra finance to take over currently owned Greater London council parks.

Mr. Waldegrave

The Government's aim is to ensure that the abolition of the GLC does not result in any inequitable shift in the burden of rates within London. Local government is being consulted about the detailed financial arrangements. It is too early to offer any figures on the financial implications of abolition on individual local authorities in 1986–87. But we shall consider carefully any representations which individual authorities wish to make.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished on 1 April 1986, what estimate can presently be made as to the value of contracts outstanding, and contractual claims unsettled at the time of abolition; and which authorities will be required to assume responsibility.

Mr. Waldegrave

I do not have the information to make such an estimate, nor any need to do so. The authorities to which functions will be transferred will also take on any contracts, and claims arising from contracts, that relate to those functions; general liabilities will become the responsibility of the proposed London residuary body.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to whom, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, will the seaside and country bungalows owned by the Greater London council be transferred and what compensation will be payable to the Greater London council or successor bodies.

Sir George Young

I refer the Hon. Member to paragraph 10 of my Department's consultation paper "Streamlining the Cities: Housing", a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. Statutory transfers of property between local authorities normally take place at outstanding loan debt, but no decision on this point has yet been taken.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, and with regard to the residual authority what will be its functions; what is its expected life, and how will it be staffed and financed.

Mr. Waldegrave

These matters will be considered in the light of the outcome of our consultations on the proposals set out in "Streamlining the Cities" (Cmnd. 9063).

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, what assistance will be made available to inner London authorities to meet the capital's problems of homeless persons, short-term hostel accommodation and single persons.

Sir George Young

After abolition the entire London HIP allocation will be available to the boroughs. Provision of local authority accommodation for the homeless will as now be eligible for housing subsidy. The capital costs of housing association hostel schemes financed by local authorities will continue to be eligible for housing association grant, and deficits on such schemes will be eligible for revenue support in the form of hostel deficit grant.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, what finance will be made available, and to which authority, for the completion of Thamesmead; and who will finance the infrastructure.

Sir George Young

We support the early completion of Thamesmead and have invited views from those concerned on appropriate future arrangements. Decisions will be taken in the light of comments received. Considerable amounts of reclamation and infrastructure work have been funded already by derelict land grant, and approved reclamation schemes will continue to be eligible for such grant. The GLC has been allowed a supplementary HIP allocation of £5 million in 1984–85 for futher work.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what London-wide housing organisations receive financial aid from the Greater London council and, in the event of the Greater London council being abolished, which authorities will assume liability for continuation of such support;

(2) if he will list all voluntary bodies currently receiving grants from the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils as referred to in para. 2.27 of Cmnd. 9063.

Mr. Waldegrave

This information is not held centrally. The Government are consulting local authorities and voluntary bodies about future funding arrangements.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council, who will carry on the present Greater London council funding of Burgess park and Mile End park so that these parks may be completed without undue financial strain on the respective London boroughs of Southwark and Tower Hamlets.

Mr. Waldegrave

Our proposals for the future of such parks are set out in "Streamlining the Cities" (Cmnd. 9063). We are consulting on the detailed financial implications of the abolition of the GLC.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans exist to increase grant-related expenditure assessments to those London boroughs which have been the recipients of housing stock transferred from the Greater London council, if his proposed legislation to abolish the functions of the Greater London council is passed by Parliament; and if he will ensure that those borough councils receive increased central Government grant to match, pound for pound, the loss of refurbishment monies in respect of this stock currently paid by the Greater London council.

Mr. Waldegrave

The Government's intention is to ensure that there is no inequitable shift in rate burdens falling on ratepayers in different parts of London, as a result of the abolition of the GLC. We are consulting local government about the detailed financial arragements. It is too early to say exactly what arrangements will be made for individual services.