§ Mr. David WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will lay before the House a draft order under section 104 of the Local Government (Finance) Act 1988 setting out his decisions on the final caps of the authorities which he designated for capping.
§ Mr. HeseltineI have today laid before the House a draft order, under section 104 of the 1988 Act, setting out my decisions on the final caps of the eight authorities which did not accept the caps that I proposed for them and put forward alternative amounts. Six authorities—Greenwich, Langbaurgh, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Reading and Somerset—accepted and I have in each case confirmed the caps for these authorities at the level originally proposed.
For the authorities in the draft order I have decided, after taking account of all the relevant information, including the new information which has been made available since I made my initial decisions, to confirm the caps for Basildon, Ipswich, Norwich and Stoke-on-Trent at the level which I initially proposed. I have decided to increase Bristol's cap by £1.5 million, Lambeth's by £3.9 million, Warwickshire's by £2.8 million and Wirral's by £3.2 million. I am satisfied that the caps I have now decided are in all cases reasonable, appropriate and achievable. The caps for each of the designated authorities and the resulting reduction in charges are as follows:
r Authority Final Cap £ million Reduction in charge £ Basildon 22.1 39 Bristol 54.9 15 Greenwich 213.0 16 Ipswich 16.0 15 Lambeth 311.17 25 Langbaurgh 15.6 6 Middlesbrough 20.2 7 Milton Keynes 20.2 16 Norwich 15.0 16 Reading 17.7 10 Somerset 272.5 6 Stoke-on-Trent 25.8 11 Warwickshire 275.1 9 Wirral 238.3 32