§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the estimate made by each local authority in Wales of the cost of implementing and administering the poll tax, and the amount of grant each local authority will receive to cover its cost.
§ Mr. GristThe individual estimates of local authority are not held centrally. After discussion with the local authority associations on an all-Wales basis, as is the normal practice, expenditure provision of £9 million was included in the 1989–90 RSG settlement to cover the cost of implementing the community charge. This was distributed between districts in accordance with a formula agreed with the associations and will count for grant support; but RSG as such is not hypothecated to individual services. For capital, the estimate made by the Committee of Welsh District Councils of expenditure of £10.3 million in 1989–90 has been met in full in allocations. These have been distributed between districts in accordance with the recommendation of the committee.
20WDiscussions on the cost of operating the new system in 1990–91, and the level of provision to be made, will start soon.