Environment Secretary John Gummer has confirmed plans to cap the spending of Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire county councils. Today (Wednesday) he will seek Commons support to axe a combined total of £13m off their budgets this year.
This will bring a cut for council taxpayers of £25.26 at the Band D rate for Cambridgeshire and of £34.89 in Oxfordshire. Both councils are under no overall control.
Six authorities were last month designated for capping. Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Tyne & Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authorities and Essex County Council accepted their proposed caps while Cambrdigeshire and Oxfordshire challenged them.
In a Commons written reply on Monday, Gummer said : “We have decided to confirm the caps proposed for both authorities. The caps are in our view, reasonable, appropriate and achievable.”
However, he added : “Oxfordshire has certain pressures on its budget which may lead to problems in the short-term. I have therefore invited Oxfordshire to consider making an application for capitalisation direction and supplementary credit approval. This would enable Oxfordshire to capitalise certain costs, thereby releasing resources to support their revenue expenditure.”
The Environment Department said this would allow the county to borrow for certain spending which at present has to be met by taxpayers.
If the Commons approves the capping orders, Gummer will go on to serve notice on the councils who will have 21 days to set new budgets and taxes. Oxfordshire is required to make a cut of £7.388m while Cambridgeshire is required to make a cut of £5.699m.
PA News (Parliament) 21/05/96
