§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet in a position to give an analysis of the financial and staff savings in respect of each of the abolished metropolitan councils.
§ Mr. ChopeThe functions which successor authorities have inherited from the former metropolitan county councils have, in large measure, been amalgamated with their pre-abolition functions. The data which the Secretary of State receives from those authorities does not therefore separately identify expenditure incurred on their inherited functions.
The residuary bodies established to wind up the affairs of the abolished county councils estimate that some £114.85 million of MCC closing revenue balances and some £47.3 million capital receipts arising from their own 374W disposals of surplus capital assets will be available for distribution to all rating authorities in the MCC areas by 31 March 1989.
We announced in February last year that some 6,300 posts had been saved immediately on abolition. These savings are not available by individual MCCs. However, we estimate that long term savings to ratepayers of some £100 million per annum will result from staff savings following abolition. About half these savings will be as a direct result of the abolition of the MCCs.