§ Ms ArmstrongTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what review the Government have carried out on the issues of cross-boundary tendering and 909W municipal trading by local authorities; and when he plans to circulate guidance on this matter. [5594]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordWe have considered the powers of local authorities to trade under the Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970. My officials wrote to the local authority associations last week informing them that we remain of the view that the limited powers of the 1970 Act are the right basis for local authority trading activities, but accepting that these powers do not restrict these activities simply to the deployment by an authority of temporarily surplus capacity in its work force.