§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Isle of Wight council has borrowed from his Department for the costs of setting up the unitary authority; what are the terms of these loans; and when they have to be repaid. [15]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe Department does not lend money to authorities. We have introduced a scheme that, through the issue of supplementary credit approvals, allows local authorities to borrow from normal sources—Public Works Loans Board, money markets, for example—to cover one-off transitional costs of local government reorganisation. To date, the Isle of Wight council has been informed that the Department is prepared to issue SCAs to the value of £1.74 million in respect of eligible costs under the transitional costs scheme. Records are not held centrally on the terms and conditions of loans taken out by local authorities.