§ Lord Carterasked Her Majesty's Government:
When it became "overwhelmingly clear that many local authorities are not managing their services and their spending so that they deliver good quality services effectively within reasonable spending limits" (HL Deb., 18th July, col. 880) and when this was made clear to Parliament.
§ Lord StrathclydeBudget returns from local authorities to the Department of the Environment for the current year made it clear that local authority spending has increased by almost a quarter in the two years from 1988/89 to 1990/91. If local authorities were to spend next year in line with the projection of expenditure produced by the local authority associations in June, their spending would have increased by 39 per cent. over three years, even without community care. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has frequently made clear to the House of Commons his attitude towards the high level of spending by local authorities.