§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the total cost of(a) splitting county Humberside into two new counties and (b) merging the south bank into Lincolnshire and the north bank into North Yorkshire and what central Government financing is available for such changes.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryMy Department has made no such estimates: it is one of the matters that we expect to be covered in the report on the further review of the county of Humberside which the Local Government Boundary Commission is now undertaking. Apart from grant for specific services, central Government support to local government is concentrated in the revenue support grant, which is distributed on the basis of assessed needs which contain no specific provision for the costs of administrative reorganisation.