§ Mr. Mark FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will work with the Local Government Association in identifying discretionary services for which the Government would be prepared to give local authorities the freedom to charge; what services are under consideration; when a decision on the services affected will be made; and what reference to these proposals will be made in a White Paper;[8450]
(2) if he will make a statement on his plans to introduce a general power to charge for discretionary services by local authorities. [8518]
§ Dr. WhiteheadIn the Green Paper "Modernising Local Government Finance" (September 2000) we stated our intention to legislate to enable authorities to charge for discretionary services, including those provided under the Local Government Act 2000 to promote the well being of their areas. We are working with the Local Government Association in determining the scope of this new freedom to charge. The forthcoming Local Government White Paper will set out how this will be taken forward.