§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the latest information available to him on the proposed changes in financial reserves held by English county councils during the 1990–91 financial year, and his estimate of the proportions of net revenue expenditure represented by such reserves at 31 March 1990 and 31 March 1991.
§ Mr. ChopeThe available information derived from authorities' budget returns is given in the table. Negative values indicate drawings from reserves and positive values indicate the building up of reserves.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory[pursuant to his answer, 21 June 1990, Official Report, columns 638–39]: The reports under consideration are:
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Commission's report number Date of receipt Review of counties Bedfordshire: boundaries with Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire 566 114 November 1988 Berkshire: boundaries with Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey 558 131 August 1988 Buckinghamshire: boundaries with Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire 571 15 May 1989 Hampshire: boundaries with Dorset, West Sussex and Wiltshire 580 1 February 1990 Leicestershire: boundaries with Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire 577 19 October 1989 South Yorkshire: boundaries with Doncaster (North Yorkshire) and Bassetlaw (Nottinghamshire) 585 4 June 1990 Staffordshire: boundaries with Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford and Worcester, and Warwickshire 582 112 February 1990 Surrey: boundary with Hampshire 578 19 January 1990 Reviews of parishes within districts/boroughs Chorley — 1 May 1990 Northampton — 2 January 1990 Woodspring — 12 February 1990 1 Decision to be announced shortly. By statute, a period of at least six weeks has to be allowed for representations to he made to the Secretary of State following the submission of proposals to him by the local government boundary commission. In practice, a longer period is given. In addition, pressure of other work on the staff concerned has meant that we have not been able to deal with all difficult cases as quickly as we would have wished.