§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his current estimate of the amounts of capital receipts received by local authorities since November 1992 and which are available to authorities for capital spending under the terms of the autumn statement; and what was his original estimate.
§ Mr. GummerEstimates of local authorities' capital receipts are based on information provided by local authorities. At the time of the autumn statement, it was estimated that English local authorities would receive some £2.2 billion of capital receipts in 1992–93. On the basis of more recent information from local authorities, a revised estimate of £2.1 billion was made in April this year. No separate estimates of receipts have been made for the period between 13 November 1992 and the end of the financial year, during which virtually all of the receipts received will have been available for capital spending as a result of the temporary relaxation in the capital receipts rules announced in the autumn statement. Provisional outturn information for receipts which local authorities obtained between 13 November 1992 and 31 March 1993 will be published in due course, once returns from local authorities have been received and processed.