§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the £100,000 likely to be spent by the Merseyside county council to provide Mersey Ferry Leisure Services, as requested by the Merseyside development corporation for the purpose of servicing the International Garden Festival, will be subjected to clawback penalties.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinHoldback of block grant is calculated by reference to the total of expenditure on all services which is above an authority's expenditure target. It does not apply to particular items of expenditure. If Merseyside county council budgets to spend within its expenditure target, then the council will not be subject to grant holdback.