Rate Support and Other Grants

Part of Orders of the Day — Wales Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 5 April 1978.

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Photo of Sir Raymond Gower Sir Raymond Gower , Barry 12:00, 5 April 1978

I am fully aware of all these considerations, and at an earlier stage I commented on the position of those employed in local government, such as NALGO members and members of one or two other associations. Let us hope that these fears will prove to be exaggerated.

If we pass this clause as it stands, it will give the Assembly a duty to distribute grants to the local authorities out of the Welsh Consolidated Fund. I am glad that the Minister gave an assurance that local authorities will be consulted before any such decisions are made, because there appeared to be a good deal of doubt on that matter.

There is a danger that when these negotiations begin, the local authorities may, nevertheless, not have as full consideration under the new system as they have had under the old. If anything the Minister says can remove that fear from the minds of those in the authorities, it will serve a good purpose.

The other point which has arisen is that it seems possible that the Assembly could distort the aplication of this grant. Perhaps I am using an unfortunate phrase, and I do not want to be unfair, but it seems to me that they could hold back distribution of the grant, or delay it or be niggardly in its application. This could impose on local authorities the obligation to levy more of their resources out of rates—not a popular or desirable function.

The Government stated in an earlier publication that in calculating block grant the Government would assume that Welsh local authorities would receive in relation to their expenditure needs provision comparable with that of local authorities in the United Kingdom as a whole. I hope that that will be the case, but I wish to ask how that situation can be enforced once the Assembly is set up.