§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to review the competition rules for local authority direct labour organisations' building and maintenance work.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyMy right hon. Friend has today published a consultation paper proposing that all building and maintenance work other than highways and sewerage work should be subject to competition from next April, and that the present exemption for direct labour organisations with not more than 30 employees should be reduced to five employees. The present regulations, made438W under part III of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, have been in force since 1983 and the Government feel that there is no longer a case for any competition-free allowance for this work. Some authorities already expose all their maintenance and minor construction work to competition. We estimate that an extra £400 million of work would be exposed to compulsory competition each year. A 30-employee de minimis threshold no longer seems justified. This could allow an authority to carry out work worth £600,000 a year without competition.
Copies of the paper are being distributed widely, including to all local authorities, and have been placed in the Library.