§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his latest estimate is of(a) the cost and (b) the cash benefit to local authorities of implementing best value. [6266]
§ Ms Keeble£52 million has been allocated in 2001–02 to local authorities in England and the Audit Commission to cover the cost of best value audit and inspection. No reliable estimates exist as to the other administrative costs incurred by authorities in complying with their duty under the Local Government Act 1999. It is for individual authorities to decide how to allocate their resources to achieve improvements in performance and cost efficiency, sufficient to meet the 2 per cent. per annum cost efficiency target for local government as a whole against an annual budget in 2001–02 of £57 billion.