§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what limit he intends to impose on county council spending on capital projects in the public sector; and if he has any plans to allow the county councils to spend their own money, above the capital allocation approved by the government, for the refurbishment and maintenance of ageing school buildings.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe Local Government and Housing Bill which is currently before the House provides for a new system for the control of local authority capital finance. Under that system, which we propose to introduce in 1990–91, the Government will not control an authority's spending on capital projects but it will limit the level of such spending which can be financed by borrowing or the use of other credit arrangements. Authorities will he free to incur additional capital spending which might be financed from revenue or by the use of the permitted proportion of capital receipts. Decisions about the appropriate level of credit approvals for 1990–91 and future years will he announced in the autumn.