§ Lady Olga MaitlandTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on his proposals for local authority participation in companies and for amending the capital finance regulations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CurryMy right hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales have received some 180 representations on our proposed order under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, including requests to exercise our powers under that Act to exempt specific local authority companies from our proposals and about 40 representations on our proposed amendments to the capital finance regulations. Having regard to these representations, we have concluded that it would be right to allow certain exemptions and to make certain technical modifications, including making special transitional provisions, to our originally proposed order, and to make some amendments to the regulations.
I have arranged for copies of a revised draft order and regulations, including those modifications, together with explanatory guides and a statement of our current intentions on exemptions, to be placed in the Library of the House. Department of the Environment and Welsh Office officials are continuing to discuss the detail of the draft order and regulations with the local authority associations, and we shall be considering further the applications received from individual authorities for exemptions. It is our intention to make the order and regulations by 1 April 1995.