§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will bring up to date the answer of 1 March 1984, Official Report, columns 330–31, concerning the Exchequer contribution to local government expenditure at settlement and outturn and if he will estimate the cost in the current financial year if the outturn reaches 65 per cent.
§ Mr. Waldegrave[pursuant to his reply, 19 July 1985]: Following is the available information:
Aggregate Exchequer Gram as a Percentage of Relevant Expenditure (England) At Settlement At Outturn/Budget 1981–82 59.1 54.9 1982–83 56.1 51.7 1983–84 52.8 49.8 1984–85 51.9 48.3 1985–86 48.7 45.9 Source: latest Rate Support Grant Supplementary Report for each year.
Note: Outturn/Budget percentages are affected by Holdback of block grant.
Because block grant is cash limited, for AEG to reach 65 per cent. of outturn, local authority outturn relevant expenditure would have to be reduced by a massive amount. The effect of this upon grants paid by central Government would depend upon the resulting specific grants and holdback.