HC Deb 30 January 1995 vol 253 cc468-74W
Mr. Simon Coombs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to announce the outcome of consultation on the local government finance settlement; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gummer

I am today laying before the House the Local Government Finance Report (England) 1995–96, the Limitation of Council Tax and Precepts (Relevant Notional Amounts) Report (England) 1995–96 and the Special Grant Report (No. 12). These reports establish the amounts of revenue support grant and non-domestic rates to be paid to local authorities in 1995–96, and the basis of their distribution; specify the amounts which are to be used as the basis of comparison for measuring increases in certain local authorities' budgets in 1995–96 for the purpose of capping, and provide for a special grant to be paid to certain authorities for 1995–96. Two hundred authorities made written representations and Ministers met 90 delegations from local councils.

I shall be sending copies of these reports to all authorities as soon as possible, together with a table showing each authority's standard spending assessment and its entitlement to RSG, NDR and special grant. I have also placed copies of the reports and the table in the Library and the Vote Office.

Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what reserves are currently held by each county council;

(2) what reserves were held by each county council at the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

The latest available estimate of the level of reserves as at 1 April 1994 are given. These estimates are subject to amendment as authorities finalise their accounts. Compatible data on the use of balances in 1994–95 which would be needed to derive an estimate of the level of reserves at 1 April 1995 are not yet available.

Estimated Level of Reserves1 at 1 April 19942
Outturn £000
Avon 27,608
Bedfordshire 22,788
Berkshire 83,457
Buckinghamshire 47,590
Cambridgeshire 56,532
Cheshire 48,563
Cleveland 22,713
Cornwall 31,725
Cumbria 11,336
Derbyshire 311,600
Devon 51,858
Dorset 10,201
Durham 20,359
East Sussex 35,010
Essex 74,504
Gloucestershire 19,293
Hampshire 92,717
Hereford and Worcester 24,376
Hertfordshire 56,403
Humberside 32,436
Isle of Wight 3,774
Kent 47,747
Lancashire 72,114
Leicestershire 16,845
Lincolnshire 46,650
Norfolk 33,850
Northamptonshire 12,820
Northumberland 18,239
North Yorkshire 36,604
Nottinghamshire 13,203
Oxfordshire 25,557
Shropshire 7,232
Somerset 36,476
Staffordshire 48,424
Suffolk 28,102
Surrey 74,955
Warwickshire 15,591
West Sussex 16,818
Wiltshire 23,957
Notes:
1 These reserves include those held for local management of schools and other purposes which may not be available to the council for general use.
2 Source: Level of reserves—outturn—at 1 April 1993 +/-appropriations to/withdrawals from reserves 1993–94—(RS return for 1993–94.
3 Level of reserves—revised estimate—at 1 April 1994—RA returns for 1994–95.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the total proposed expenditure in each local authority area by(a) urban development corporations, (b) English Partnerships and (c) inner-city tasks forces for 1995–96.

Mr. Curry

Planned gross expenditure in 1995–96 by each urban development corporation is set out in table A. Where the urban development area crosses local authority boundaries, each local authority is listed.

Planned expenditure by English Partnerships in 199596 is expected to be £263.2 million including the use of receipts.

The national allocation for task forces in 1995–96 is £13.0 million and the local authority areas where task force expenditure is expected are set out in table B. Budgets for individual task forces have not yet been decided, but those task forces which remain open for the whole financial year will each receive a budget of about £1 million. For task forces which have closed, expenditure will be limited to commitments made before closure.

TABLE A: Planned gross expenditure by UDCs in 1995–96
UDC Gross expenditure £000 Local authority
Birmingham Heartlands 13,438 Birmingham City Council
Black Country 37,270 Sandwell BC Walsall BC Wolverhampton BC
Bristol 13,322 Bristol City Council
Central Manchester 12,558 Manchester City Council
Leeds 200 Leeds City Council
London Docklands1 89,900 LB Newham LB Southwark LB Tower Hamlets
Merseyside 34,000 Liverpool City Council Sefton BC Wirral BC
Plymouth 11,750 Plymouth City Council
Sheffield 17,156 Sheffield City Council
Teeside 52,650 Hartlepool BC Langbaurgh BC Stockton on Tees BC Middlesborough BC
Trafford Park 29,400 Trafford BC Salford City Council
Tyne and Wear 53,731 Newcastle City Council North Tyneside BC South Tyneside BC Sunderland BC
Note:
1 Excludes DLR proposed gross expenditure of £38.7 million.
TABLE B: Local authority areas with task force expenditure in 1995–96
Local authority area Task force
Bradford Bradford
Kingston upon Hull Hull
London Borough of Lewisham 1Deptford
London Borough of Hackney Hackney
London Borough of Southwark 2North Peckham
London Borough of Haringey Tottenham

TABLE B: Local authority areas with task force expenditure in 1995–96
Local authority area Task force
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 2West London
South Tyneside South Tyneside
Stockton on Tees Stockton and Thornaby
Derby Derby
Nottingham 1Nottingham
Birmingham Newtown/Ladywood
Birmingham 2East Birmingham
Manchester 1Moss Side and Hulme
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Wirral
Liverpool Granby/Toxteth
Plymouth Plymouth
Bristol 2Bristol
1Closing at the end of 1994–1995.
2Closed.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the allocation made to each local authority in 1993–94 from(a) the urban partnership (b) estate action and (c) the derelict and grant programmes.

Mr. Curry

Expenditure by local authority area in 1993–94 on the urban partnership fund, estate action and derelict land grant is set out in the table.

Expenditure in 1993–94 on the Urban Partnership Fund (UPF), Estate Action and Derelict Land Grant (DLG).
£000s
Local authority UPF Estate action DLG
Allerdale 900 898
Alnwick 866
Amber Valley 47
Barking and Dagenham 254
Barnet 1,202
Barnsley 4,599 1,576
Barrow in Furness 600 52
Basildon 850
Bassetlaw 1
Bath 1,195 152
Bedford 11
Bedfordshire 4
Bexley 14
Birmingham 245 19,342 1,008
Blackburn 4,953 39
Blackpool 650 75
Blyth Valley 1,277
Bolsover 94 106
Bolton 224 2,025 569
Boston 81
Boothferry 12
Bradford 4,800 1,312
Braintree 6
Brent 125 36
Bristol 500 6,285
Broxbourne 323
Burnley 137 2,291 103
Bury 485 1,260
Calderdale 3,230 3,278
Cambridge 4 26
Camden 305 4
Cannock Chase 300 278
Canterbury 156
Caradon 677
Carlisle 2,255
Carrick 87

Expenditure in 1993–94 on the Urban Partnership Fund (UPF), Estate Action and Derelict Land Grant (DLG).
£000s
Local authority UPF Estate action DLG
Charnwood 17
Cheltenham 323
Cheshire 3,229
Chester 750 20
Chesterfield 659 154
Chester le Street 250
Chorley 970
Cleveland 6
Colchester 481
Congleton 86
Copeland 1,050
Corby 2,900 1,811
Cornwall 536
Coventry 2,600 5,937 123
Craven 778
Crewe and Nantwich 300 1
Croydon 27
Cumbria 4,123
Darlington 535 235
Dartford 22
Daventry 57
Derby 175 6,577 11
Derbyshire 2,221
Derbyshire Dales 92
Derwentside 3,062 2,203
Devon 1,239
Doncaster 70 1,867 1,629
Dudley 282 2,834 3,742
Durham 130 1,065
Ealing 510 36
Easington 1,572 117
East Yorkshire 270
Eden 300
Ellesmere Port and Neston 2,239 1,990
Enfield 141
Erewash 413 1,346
Fenland 155
Forest of Dean 36
Gateshead 378 200 2,169
Gedling 5
Gillingham 272
Glanford 5,164
Gloucester 721
Gosport 5
Gravesham 84
Great Grimsby 600 4
Great Yarmouth 532 47
Greenwich 345 2,970 266
Guildford 33
Hackney 125 9,081
Halton 1,956 1,166
Hammersmith and Fulham 81 2,077
Haringey 4,616
Harrogate 298
Hartlepool 150 1,486
Hastings 35
Hereford and Worcester 14
Hertfordshire 14
High Peak 1,055
Hillingdon 750
Hinckley and Bosworth 6
Hounslow 2,221
Humberside 50
Huntingdonshire 378 12
Hyndburn 1,494 297
Ipswich 292 17
Islington 1,040 5,233
Kensington and Chelsea 1,450
Kent 48
Kerrier 1,502

Expenditure in 1993–94 on the Urban Partnership Fund (UPF), Estate Action and Derelict Land Grant (DLG).
£000s
Local authority UPF Estate action DLG
King's Lynn and West Norfolk 2
Kingston upon Hull 25 4,323 176
Kingswood 3
Kirklees 1,140 4,013 1,927
Knowsley 1,000 3,174 610
Lambeth 6,652 263
Lancashire 243
Lancaster 3,276
Langbaurgh on Tees 127 1,523 85
Leeds 300 6,472 253
Leicester 233 7,127 4
Leicestershire 404
Lewisham 9,884 32
Lichfield 103
Lincoln 290 313
Lincolnshire 55
Liverpoool 1,065 19,338 986
Luton 8
Macclesfield 191 217
Maidstone 744
Manchester 350 17,327 3,249
Mansfield 500 1,812
Melton 106
Merton 199 23
Middlesbrough 36 678 44
Newark and Sherwood 790 188
Newcastle under Lyme 213 433
Newcastle upon Tyne 250 3,064 455
Newham 326 7,600 292
North Cornwall 7
North East Derbyshire 363 323
North Kesteven 158
North Norfolk 49
North Tyneside 729 2,723 518
North Warwickshire 12
North West Leicestershire 46
North Wiltshire 110
Northampton 100 9
Northavon 245
Northumberland 789
Norwich 631 5
Nottinghamshire 65 2,085
Nottingham 370 6,111 333
Nuneaton and Bedworth 500 152
Oadby and Wigston 100
Oldham 340 3,050 1,805
Peak National Park Joint Planning
Board 110
Pendle 82
Penwith 24
Peterborough 253
Plymouth 960 1,411 54
Poole 503
Portsmouth 220 10
Preston 348 2,716
Reading 1,150 1
Redbridge 2,738
Redditch 605
Reigate and Banstead 6
Restormel 63
Ribble Valley 116
Richmond upon Thames 75
Richmondshire 36
Rochdale 240 3,826 354
Rossendale 710 378
Rotherham 685 3,354
Rushcliffe 1
Rushmoor 574
Salford 870 6,002 2,225
Sandwell 215 9,285 5,412

Expenditure in 1993–94 on the Urban Partnership Fund (UPF), Estate Action and Derelict Land Grant (DLG).
£000s
Local authority UPF Estate action DLG
Scunthorpe 486
Sedgefield 1,346 148
Sefton 310 2,798 561
Sheffield 675 6,625 664
Shropshire 1,569
South Cambridgeshire 34
South Derbyshire 16
South Hams 245 15
South Lakeland 29
South Ribble 174 7
South Staffordshire 6
South Tyneside 500 718 139
Southampton 679
Southwark 1,000 17,223 21
St. Edmundsbury 213 17
St. Helens 5,415 787
Stafford 444
Staffordshire 616
Staffordshire Moorlands 10
Stevenage 496
Stockport 3,260 1,117
Stockton on Tees 119 2,035 532
Stoke on Trent 1,969 1,021
Stroud 963
Sunderland 1,000 5,511 520
Surrey 31
Sutton 565
Tameside 1,075
Teesdale 6
Teignbridge 1
Thamesdown 100 16
The Wrekin 383
Thurrock 1,000 2
Torbay 25
Tower Hamlets 11,767 236
Trafford 751
Vale Royal 835 2
Wakefield 2,144 2,790
Walsall 1,549 4,325
Waltham Forest 3,797 16
Wandsworth 670
Warrington 600 20
Warwickshire 4
Watford 242
Wealden 111
Wear Valley 1,701 290
Westminster 179
West Devon 8
West Sussex 54
Weymouth and Portland 131
Wigan 420 2,147 3,058
Wirral 75 4,681 496
Wolverhampton 250 2,293 915
Worcester 1,050
Wyre 763
York 1,280 30
Total 22,409 357,437 104,148