§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the budget implications for Lancashire county council and the other Lancashire district councils for 1995–96 in respect of both income and expenditure; if Blackburn and Blackpool are to be given unitary status; and if he will make a statement. [16493]
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesOur assessments of the need to spend and of the income from business rates and council taxes for Lancashire authorities for 1995–96 are as follows:
£ million Standard spending assessment Business rate income Council tax income Lancashire 845.369 258.272 185.846 Blackburn 17.221 4.665 2.931 Blackpool 18.596 5.138 3.476 Burnley 10.009 3.059 2.047 Chorley 8.192 3.248 2.403 Fylde 6.216 2.465 2.153 Hyndburn 7.600 2.642 1.795 Lancaster 14.236 4.469 3.161 Pendle 8.323 2.872 1.989 Preston 15.662 4.421 2.960 Ribble Valley 4.051 1.731 1.539 Rossendale 5.824 2.201 1.579 South Ribble 7.921 3.461 2.584 West Lancashire 10.004 3.676 2.742 Wyre 9.388 3.476 2.838 The Secretary of State has accepted the recommendations of the Local Government Commission that the existing two-tier system of local government for Lancashire should be retained. However, he intends to invite the commission to carry out further reviews of a small number of individual districts, including Blackburn and Blackpool.