§ Mr. RoweTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the aggregate bids for supplementary credit approvals submitted by the local authorities in(a) Berkshire, (b) Cambridgeshire, (c) Cheshire, (d) Devon, (e) Essex, (f) Hereford and Worcester, (g) Kent, (h) Lancashire, (i) Nottinghamshire and (j) Shropshire to meet the prospective transitional costs of proposed changes to local government structure for 1996–97. [34041]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordFor the 1996–97 reorganisation costs scheme, authorities in Berkshire, Devon, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, and Nottinghamshire were invited in October 1995 to submit the bids on the basis that structural change orders for these reorganisations may be made with a reorganisation date of 1 April 1997 and in time to allow their bids to be considered. In the event, this was not the case. The aggregate bids submitted at that stage were: 79W
£ million Berkshire 116.341 Devon 19.699 Essex 4.671 Hereford and Worcester 21.465 Nottinghamshire 12.251 1 Two authorities did not submit bids.2 Three authorities did not submit bids. Bids were not invited from authorities in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Kent, Lancashire and Shropshire because at that stage the final recommendations on the future of local government in those areas had not been received from the Local Government Commission for England.