As Deputies are quite aware the Dáil adjourned on Thursday the 23rd before I had finished reading my speech on the Estimates. I had dealt only with housing and sanitary services. I now come to roads. In regard to roads and road traffic, the objective of my Department continues to be to secure greater safety and efficiency in the use of our roads and in pursuing this major aim to use to the best possible effect the overall resources, necessarily limited, available for the work.
Perhaps in no part of my Department's work is the need for team effort more apparent than in that of road safety because here we are seeking to get the whole community—since practically every man, woman and child is a road user — to play a part. The agencies which my Department work with here include the Department of Education and the Gardaí, the local authorities, Radio Telefís Éireann and, of course, the Safety First Association of Ireland. They all co-operate in the annual campaigns run by my Department such as that conducted in the early summer this year, the chief feature of which was a nationwide road safety competition in the schools. A further "campagin" is being run this month and the chief feature of it is a nationwide competition based on the "Rules of the Road", a completely new edition of which is being issued. There will also be a drive aimed at pedestrians and cyclists, with special emphasis on after-dark protection.
These "campaigns" as they are called, are only the peaks of work that goes on throughout the year. Thus, the Safety First Association, with the help of a grant from the Road Fund, employs full-time officers covering a great part of the country, who are constantly at work stimulating local and personal interest in road safety. My Department throughout the year continues to turn out films and leaflets and to co-operate with Radio Telefís Éireann in the production of material for use on television and, having consulted with the Department of Education and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, is preparing visual aids to road safety instruction in the primary schools. These aids will take the form of special charts which will enable teachers to combine road safety instruction with the teaching of Irish and English.
I wish to take the opportunity of expressing to all the bodies, a number of whom I have not mentioned by name, who co-operate with my Department in road safety work, my sincere appreciation and to thank in particular the members of the advisory committee on propaganda which has now been working with my Department for a number of years.
I think that those engaged on road safety work deserve appreciation, if for no other reason, for the fact that, despite all their efforts, the accident rate is on the move up and in particular fatal accidents have continued to increase. This is no reflection on the quality and intensity of the work being done on road safety propaganda; without it, without sustaining and developing it, things could be much worse. As I shall mention later, research into road accidents is being undertaken on a comprehensive scale by An Foras Forbartha, but such studies as we have been able to conduct to date indicate that to many of out roads the volume of traffic has reached a level at which a sharp increase in accident rates can be expected. It is a major aim of our road programme to carry out as quickly as possible the road traffic improvements necessary to take the increasing traffic in safety, but all the improvements needed cannot obviously be carried out simultaneously so that, for the present, we shall have to place most of our reliance on other methods—traffic management, propaganda and legal controls such as those envisaged in the Road Traffic Bill. I trust that, when we come to renew the debate on that Bill, those taking part will bear in mind the sombre background to it, the accident statistics.
Most of the controls applied under the existing law are of course aimed at securing greater road safety, others at improving traffic flow. During the year these controls were maintained, developed and improved. One of the most important safety controls is comprised in the scheme of driving tests, which has now become an accepted part of the procedure for driver licensing. In fact, the numbers of applications for tests being dealt with by my Department have grown at the rate estimated at the time the scheme was being designed. These numbers, which are currently running at about 1,000 per week, will undoubtedly continue to increase for some years to come and the additional staff needed to handle the increasing numbers of tests are being recruited.
In all, since the inception of the scheme in March, 1964, more than 78,000 tests have been carried out and the rate of failure in these tests has been just 52 per cent. The driving test is a test of competence and simply aims at ensuring that a person who passes the test can drive safely to a satisfactory standard. It seems obvious that many people undertake the test without adequate preparation. This shows a regrettable lack of appreciation of the serious responsibility involved in driving a motor vehicle in modern conditions.
Another important safety control is that of speed limits. The comprehensive review of speed limits on all routes is now nearing completion; all but four counties have been examined. In order to ensure that the proposed amendments come into operation as soon as possible, a separate set of regulations is being introduced for each county. Regulations for eight counties have already been made; regulations to cover the remainder will be introduced as quickly as possible. With the completion of the review there will be a more uniform and reasonable application of speed limits throughout the country.
I come now to the problem of traffic flow, a problem that becomes ever more complex with the growing volume of vehicles on the roads. The Road Traffic Bill, in addition to its provisions on road safety, has a number of proposals designed to improve traffic and parking conditions. In traffic matters, the primary functions rest with the Gardaí and the local authorities, and I operate largely as a consenting and enabling authority. During the year I gave my consent to 14 sets of local traffic and parking bye-laws and temporary rules. Nine car parks were provided with the aid of grants from the Road Fund and the subheads for Urban and Rural Employment Schemes. A number of sets of traffic light signals and pedestrian lights were provided with the aid of Road Fund grants. During the year the Road Traffic (Signs) Regulations were amended to prescribe for the redimensioning of roadway markings, such as centre and lane lines suitable for present day traffic and speeds, and to prescribe a new traffic sign to indicate the existence of a clearway.
In Dublin, the co-operation in traffic matters between my Department, the Corporation, the Gardaí and CIE continued. Meetings of a committee of officials representative of these bodies took place at regular intervals. During the year the committee was broadened to include representatives of Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Corporation. The Committee is primarily concerned with securing more efficient use of existing facilities.
During the year some additions were made to the one-way street system by temporary rules made by the Garda Commissioner with my consent. There has been an improvement in traffic flow in the central city area following on the one-way system, but this can soon be negatived by increased traffic, and indeed it led to a shift of the congestion to the suburban radial routes. Action to deal with these will proceed in two stages. First, comes the introduction of a simple clearway regulation, such as was introduced some time ago on the Rathmines and Ranelagh routes. The system worked very successfully there and facilitated the movement in peak hours of buses, which carry the majority of the workers to and from the central city area. Accordingly it has been extended recently to other radial routes and will no doubt be extended to still more in the future.
Remedial measures give ease for a time only, that is, if traffic continues to build up, and ultimately a decision must be reached as to whether conditions will be allowed to become chaotic or whether restrictions will be imposed on the use of the streets in the central city area. One does not have to be an expert to realise that, if a whole lot of radial routes discharge all the traffic they can into a limited central area, and most of that traffic seeks to park in the limited area, chaos will result.
Everyone is familiar with the sight of large streams of private cars pourpose ing into the city each morning with generally only one or two persons in each car. Great numbers of these cars are left on the city streets until the evening rush begins in the reverse direction. The provision of central off-street car parks will not solve the problem because the existence of such car parks will attract more commuters in the morning and, at the evening peak, the full complement of cars will be discharged on to the limited street system. To remove the limitations of the existing street system would involve an enormous amount of capital expenditure and I cannot visualise a time when sufficient capital can be diverted from more pressing needs to redesign radically our city streets to cater for all the foreseeable commuter traffic that would want to use them each morning and evening during rush hours. An obvious solution, at this stage, is to limit severely parking in the central city area. The parking meter enables priority in such kerbside parking as is available to be given to the short-term parker. Parking meters will help to ensure that bus traffic will be able to operate at reasonable speed and buses are at present used by the majority of central city workers. I am satisfied that commuting by private cars which congest city streets by all day kerbside parking cannot be allowed to cause inconvenience to the public and dislocate business and public transport. What I have said indicates that I accept that prima facie there is a case for the introduction of parking meters in the central city area, but when I formally receive the Garda proposals in this regard I shall of course consider any representations made, in particular the views of the local authority.
So much for the traffic that uses the roads and now as to the roads themselves. First I should say that, while traffic continued to increase, there was a substantial shortfall in the revenue from motor taxation for 1966/67 due to a number of factors, including a substantial drop in the number of new vehicles registered. The shortfall in the income of the Fund amounted in all to £550,000, an estimate of £9.75 million having realised only £9.2 million.
The shortfall would have been serious enough in itself but it occurred at a time when commitments, incurred in the expectation of a continuing surge of revenue, had risen to a critical figure—£6,500,000 on 31st March, 1967, compared with £5,200,000 on 31st March 1966. Corrective action was necessary. If this were to take the form of extra money for roads, it could be secured only by extra taxation or at the expense of other programmes such as those for housing, education and health. It was necessary, therefore, to reduce the Road Fund allocations for 1967/68 and this was effected chiefly by reducing the Main Road Improvement Grant. Fortunately the effect on the works programme of local authorities was not what the reduction in allocations would suggest. The total of grants allocated in a particular year is not an exact measure of the likely expenditure on roads in that year because the grants allocated will not all be spent in that year. This is due to timelags associated with land acquisition, the preparation of plans, specifications and the placing of contracts.
In last year's debate on the Estimate for my Department reference was made to various studies which have been undertaken into important aspects of road policy by my Department and by An Foras Forbartha. What I might call research of this kind goes on the whole time and is extremely important. The establishment of An Foras Forbartha, however, enabled it to be carried out on a planned, comprehensive scale. The staff of An Foras engaged on roads has now been brought up to a full working standard. Their work is grouped in three sections— road traffic, road construction and road safety.
A programme of work has been put in hands, not merely on research, since the scope of the Institute's activities goes beyond that to education and training as well. A number of courses for engineers have been conducted. Perhaps one of the most hopeful of the jobs which An Foras have undertaken is the collection, in co-operation with the Gardaí and the Central Statistics Office, of up-to-date statistics on road accidents with a view to conducting a scientific analysis of the factors involved and recommending the remedial action that might be taken. It will be some time before sufficient data are built up to give the end product of remedial action, and in this matter of road accidents I would be slow to hold out the hope of a magic answer. But I personally am convinced that this is the way to tackle the problem and I am more than hopeful that this method will pay in the long run.
Last year a grant of £42,280 was made from the Road Fund to An Foras for road research. An Foras works in very close association with my Department. It also has the assistance of very active committees of experts in the various areas of research and this ensures both the quality and practicality of the work done. Close contact is also maintained with research being carried out abroad.
The current work programme of An Foras includes, in addition to the items I have mentioned already, research on traffic signs, systematic traffic counting, road standards, pavement design, and road drainage. It has appointed consultants to prepare a report on street lighting and this report will be available shortly. Grants for post-graduate research have been made to University College, Dublin, and Trinity College Engineering Schools for investigations into the characteristics of peat subgrades and boulder clays, respectively.
Good progress at both local and regional levels has been maintained with the physical planning programme. The 1st October this year was the date before which development plans were required to be made under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963. By the 1st October, 78 plans had been made. The Act enables extensions of the deadline to be allowed in particular cases and 40 planning authorities have applied for extensions.
The position is, therefore, that over 44 per cent of all development plans were made by the 1st October, and, taking into account the position which has been reached in the remaining areas, progress generally is satisfactory.
I want to commend those planning authorities who have been the pacemakers; those who have overcome their difficulties and made their plans within the three years stipulated by the Act. I accpet that the failure of other planning authorities to emulate their example could, in the big majority of cases, be attributed to reasons beyond their control. It was clear for some time before 1st October that circumstances were conspiring to make full compliance with the statutory deadline impossible.
From the beginning, planning authorities were working under a considerable handicap in that it was, and still is, difficult to recruit qualified planners. My Department and An Foras Forbartha have done what they could to fill this gap by providing advice and guidance for planning authorities, including the organisation of courses and seminars for local planning staffs. Planning courses are now established in the College of Technology, Bolton Street, and in University College, Dublin. Trainee planners have been recruited by my Department and Dublin Corporation also are taking steps to recruit trainees. The prospects of a progressive improvement in the supply of qualified planners are brightening.
The local elections earlier this year interrupted progress with the preparation of planning programmes. In a big number of areas new members were elected who had to familiarise themselves with planning policies and proposals. In addition, the time needed to comply properly with the statutory provisions for public consultation in regard to draft plans had not been fully appreciated by many planning authorities. The draft plans were on public display for three months and representations and objections made during that period have to be considered by the councils before the plans are made. Ratepayers making objection are entitled, on request, to be heard orally. Considerable interest was evinced in the draft plans and it is important that councils should fully consider the views of the public, even if this involves some delay in making the plans.
This is a part of the planning process which I would not like to see rushed. Where a council genuinely needs more time to consider representations I am not denying it to them, within reason. I must make it clear, however, that it would be unwise of any planning authority to seek to exploit this situation to procrastinate in making their plan. Each application for an extension is considered on its individual merits and an extension will not be given unless I am satisfied that the planning authority is making reasonable progress. Planning authorities who have not yet made their plans will be expected to complete the task within the extended periods allowed. I am confident that the majority of the outstanding development plans will be made by the end of the present year and the balance before the 31st March next. It is important that development plans should be generally operational as soon as possible and every effort will be maintained to secure this objective.
As the title of the Planning and Development Act implies, development is the essential corollary of meaningful planning. The Act has brought about a radical change in the purpose and potential of local government. It has placed local authorities in a strong position to assume a positive role in promoting economic and social development at local level. They must avail of the initiative so provided and make the most of their opportunities and resources. Physical planning is very much a matter of creating the right environment for new activity. Local authorities must exploit and supplement their planning activities by promotional work aimed at increasing investment, employment and the circulation of money in their areas. It is difficult to overlook the importance of the development plan machinery in this regard. I see the plans as blueprints for local development.
A well-conceived development plan will make for close co-ordination in the activities of local authorities in housing, the provision of services and the improvements of communications. It will enable these programmes to be related to private investment needs. It will be the framework within which planning authorities will provide sites for housing—both local authority and private—and direct incentives for private enterprise, such as industrial sites, the promotion of renewal in cities and towns, and the development of local amenities. To make the most of these opportunities, planning authorities will need to cultivate an active development outlook and to give increasing attention to the promotional aspects of local government responsibility.
The first development plans are relatively simple documents. Their purpose is to give expression to a basic planning policy and to provide a framework for development in the coming five years. In many areas special traffic and other basic studies are in progress and the results of these will have to be incorporated in future plans or in amendments of the initial plans. Planning is a continuous process and the Act provides that the development plans must be reviewed at least once in every five years, thus enabling the authorities to take account of experience and of new requirements. In themselves, however, these first plans are important and valuable as the beginning of comprehensive local planning for development. The plan programme has generated much discussion, and some controversy, about local development proposals. This is a very welcome indication of growing public interest in the work of local planning authorities and in the potential of planning.
The regional planning studies which are being carried out by United Nations consultants in association with An Foras Forbartha are due to be completed in March next. The purpose of the studies is to provide information on the opportunities and needs which exist in regard to regional development and also to provide advice on the means by which regional development potential might best be realised. The studies, therefore, are a major part of the ground work for further decisions on regional development policy.
In the Dublin and Limerick regions, studies have already been completed and outline development plans prepared by consultants. The views of local authorities and other interests on these recommendations, which are advisory, have been invited.
The programme of development plans under the Planning and Development Act and the Regional Studies Programme have very important implications for the future location and distribution of employment and of industrial growth. The designation of a systematic hierarchy of centres of economic and social growth and the promotion of regional development on such a basis is our best hope of effecting a change in the trend towards an unhealthy imbalance in national development as between different areas of the country. It is important that these problems should be tackled now, and that they should be tackled strenuously, because established patterns will not be changed overnight and there are already good grounds for concern.
The planning consultant for the Dublin region has estimated that, on the basis of current trends, the population of the Dublin metropolitan area is likely to increase by 200,000 in the next 20 years and he has made recommendations for a physical development plan to accommodate this expansion. These expectations are supported by the most recent census returns. As I have already emphasised, however, the consultant's recommendations are only advisory.
Such an expansion of Dublin would certainly create great problems of physical accommodation but, most important, it must be known and shown what the implications of Dublin growth on this scale would be for the rest of the country. Plans for the future expansion of Dublin must be part of a national development programme benefiting all regions. This will almost certainly involve a measure of concentration in promotional effort and investment in those areas which have the potential to fill the role of regional centres of economic and social growth. In this way a development momentum can be generated which will benefit all areas.
The report of the regional consultants will include advice on the best lines on which to proceed. Obviously this advice and the regional studies generally will need to be jointly evaluated when the study programme is completed. To help in this work a special committee, the regional Development Committee, has been established in my Department to advise on matters relating to regional planning and development. This committee is representative of all the Departments with development interests, and arrangements are actively under consideration to enable it to meet the greatly increased demands which will be made on it as we move from the stage of regional study to the formulation and promotion of regional development programmes.
The regional planning consultants have had a series of meetings locally with representatives of the planning authorities in each region. As the statutory planning authorities for their areas, local councils will have a major contribution to make in translating the idea of regional development into reality. I believe that a regional association of planning authorities, with which representatives of industrial and tourist interests would be associated, would be desirable for the successful promotion of development centres and other regional objectives. Such a group is already in existence in the Limerick region. It includes the chairman and officials of the planning authorities and representatives of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company. The Industrial Development Authority, the Regional Tourism Organisation and my Department are also represented.
I want to avail of this opportunity to commend the foresight and initiative of the local planning authorities and other local interests concerned in coming together in this way to discuss their common problems and to see what they can do jointly to advance their region. I propose to make early arrangements to encourage and facilitate the establishment of similar groups in other regions. The groups will be instrumental in spreading the regional outlook at local level, in involving the interests which they represent in concerted effort and in presenting the regional point of view at national level. Under the aegis of An Foras Forbartha, a model development plan for Galway City which will provide guidance on the application of modern planning techniques and standards to the development of growth centres has been completed and is at present with the United Nations who, I understand, will send it to An Foras shortly for publication. Other planning studies completed deal with matters such as the provision to be made in development plans for traffic in small towns and for industrial development.
Seminars have been held by An Foras to spread the fruits of research and experience for the benefit of all and I know that these have been of great value to local planners in particular in preparing their development plans. A welcome innovation in the planning work of An Foras during the year was the engagement of Irish consultant-planners to undertake, in addition to the study of the Connemara Gaeltacht, central area development in Waterford City, and shopping centre development in Arklow.
Before I leave the subject of planning and development, I must refer briefly to the question of planning appeals. The number of appeals under consideration on 1st April, 1966, was 901. The number of new appeals submitted in the year ended 31st March, 1967, was 1,229, compared with 1,344 in the preceding year, and 887 in 1964/ 65. Returns from planning authorities indicate that a total of 18,439 applications for planning permission were decided by them in 1966/67 and that permission was refused in only 1,955 of these cases. The fact that approval was given in respect of practically 90 per cent of all applications received suggests that, in general, the control powers given to planning authorities continued to be exercised in a reasonable manner.
The number of appeals disposed of during the year ended 31st March, 1967, was 1,402, of which 996 were formally determined by the Minister, 302 were withdrawn as a result of agreement between the parties or for other reasons, and 104 were late or invalid. Of the appeals formally determined in the year, 237 were allowed and 339 were allowed subject to conditions. The decision of the planning authority was confirmed in 420 cases.
While the position in regard to planning control has been satisfactory in most areas, I have been concerned to note in my consideration of appeals that the planning policies to which decisions on applications for permission are related, appear to be applied rather rigidly by some planning authorities. As a result, a number of appeals lodged are subsequently withdrawn because, in the course of consideration of the appeals, ideas emerge as to ways in which objections could be overcome and a mutually satisfactory solution achieved.
I have recently written to all planning authorities suggesting that the number of appeals could be reduced if they adopted a less rigid line in relation to development proposals, especially those of minor significance or, wherever feasible, suggested to an applicant how objections to the proposal for which he has sought permission could be overcome. As an alternative to outright refusal of permission, planning authorities should examine the possibility of granting permission subject to conditions regarding changes designed to correct defects in the plans lodged.
The ultimate objective of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, is to secure the proper planning and development of all areas in the interests of the common good. In the process, the aim of planning authorities should be to reflect public needs and public wishes to the greatest extent feasible and, at the same time, to endeavour to eliminate any valid grounds for grievance as to the validity of particular objectives of local planning policy. For this reason. I have reminded the authorities of the importance of giving reasons for refusal, or for conditions, which are informative and helpful.
A brief reference to some policy stated in the development plan will not suffice unless it is clear what the objective is and how it would be contravened by the development proposed. In this way the applicant (and, in appeal cases, the Minister) will have a clearer idea of how it is considered that the proposals would contravene the development plan. This is particularly important where the development plan does not imply absolute exclusion of the type of development proposed and it is necessary to bring out in the grounds for refusal the reasonableness of applying the provisions of the plan in the particular case. Where there are other good reasons for refusal not related to the development plan, these should also be given since it is the interest of intending developers to know all the objections to their proposals if they are considering amendment of their plans or the making of an appeal.
I look forward to the full co-operation of local planning authorities in giving effect to my suggestions. These should increase public awareness and acceptance of the broad aims of planning policies and should substantially reduce the proportion of planning decisions which are made the subject of appeals.
The estimate for grants under the derelict sites and amenity grants scheme, for which provision is made in Subhead G, shows an increase of £10,000 over the provisions for 1966-67.
A great deal remains to be done to improve the appearances of town and countryside and I would like to see more widespread use being made of the grants available for that purpose. Grants of up to 50 per cent of approved cost are available to local authorities and local development groups towards the cost of parks, open spaces, the provision or improvement of walks and means of access, landscaping planting and other works of visual or recreational amenity.
Progress was maintained during 1966-67 in speeding up the consideration of proposals for the compulsory acquisition by local authorities of land and water rights. On 1st April, 1966, the number of cases on hands was 55. During the year 41 new proposals were received and 58 cases were decided. The number on hands at 31st March, 1967, was 38.
Subheads K to O include provision for the scheme formerly administered by the Special Employment Schemes Office, with the exception of the provision for Miscellaneous Schemes (Minor Marine Works) transferred to the Vote for Public Works and Buildings.
The Special Employment Schemes Office ceased to exist as a separate entity on 1st April last. The staff of the Office has been transferred to my Department, and, pending the reorganisation of the administrative procedure, they are continuing to operate the schemes as a Section of the Department. The purpose of the transfer was to enable me to consider the re-organisation of the various services in the interests of greater efficiency and economy. I now have actively in train certain measures to improve the method of administration.
The grants for Urban and Rural Employment Schemes (Subheads K and L) will continue, as in the past, to be administered through the local authorities, but under the undivided control of my Department. It is proposed to preserve the principle of allocating these grants by reference to the number of unemployed, and of requiring a local contribution.
The staff of the Special Employment Schemes Office was occupied almost wholly in the administration of the Minor Employment, Bog Development and Rural Improvement Schemes. It has been felt for some time that the maintenance of a separate organisation for this purpose was excessively costly and that the financial provision for the schemes and the personnel employed could be more effectively used otherwise. The Government decided that these three schemes should in future be administered as a single scheme and that the county councils should be asked to operate it. Some contribution by landholders will be involved in the case of every scheme, but for the poorer areas where the average land valuation is low, the rates of contribution will be minimal. Thus, the landholders' contribution under the new scheme will be 2½ per cent for average land valuations under £5, compared with 10 per cent under the Rural Improvements Scheme. Furthermore, unemployed persons registered at the employment exchanges will continue to get priority in employment. Details of the proposed scheme have been notified to the county councils with a view to its being put into operation next year. For the present year the existing schemes are being operated as formerly.
The allocations of grants under the Urban and Rural Employment Schemes subheads for the current year's employment programmes were notified to the local authorities on 25th May last and schemes to absorb the grants are at present being received and considered in my Department.
All Deputies representing rural constituencies were notified on 1st May last of the intention to allocate this year's grants under the Minor Employment and Bog Development Schemes Subheads. All the grants for this year's Minor Employment and Bog Development Schemes have now been issued. The Rural Improvements Scheme provision has also been allocated in full.
Subhead P of the Vote includes a sum of £18,500 for grants to An Chomhairle Leabharlanna under the Public Libraries Act, 1947. Of this amount, £2,500 represents the State contribution towards the current expenses of An Chomhairle and the balance, £16,000, is to enable An Chomhairle to assist library authorities by providing grants of up to 50 per cent of the loan charges on library development projects. Under this scheme of assistance, which was introduced in 1961, the library services have undergone a modest but steady improvement. Subsidies paid to library authorities amount to £9,683 in 1965-66, and £12,253 in 1966-67, compared with this year's provision of £16,000. A number of projects are at various stages of planning, and I hope that the next few years will see a considerable improvement in the public library service.
The value of purchases by local authorities from official contractors appointed under the Combined Purchasing Act, 1939, continues to increase. Purchases in the contract year ended 30th June, 1967, totalled approximately £5.58 million, compared with £5.40 million in the year ended 30th June, 1966.
The total revenue expenditure in the present financial year of local authorities, excluding vocational education committees, committees of agriculture and harbour authorities, is estimated at £104.71 million, an increase of approximately £9 million on the actual expenditure for 1966/67. This expenditure is financed from three main sources of revenue—State grants, rates, and miscellaneous receipts such as rents for local authority houses. In the current year it is estimated that 52 per cent of expenditure will be met from State grants, 32 per cent from rates and 16 per cent from miscellaneous receipts. It is noteworthy that the percentage met by the Exchequer has been consistently rising in recent years. This percentage was 39.2 per cent in 1938/39, 42.6 per cent in 1956/57, approximately 50 per cent. The increase in the present year is due in the main to the extended rate relief provided under the Rates on Agricultural Land (Relief) Act, 1967, which in effect derated land valuations under £20 and gave further reliefs on a sliding scale in the case of land holdings in the valuation range £20 to £33. Apart from this specific measure, however, the basic trend is clear—an ever-growing proportion of local authority expenditure is being met from State funds.
The services provided by local authorities are vital to the well-being of the community and there is constant public demand for their further development. This inevitably raises the question of meeting the cost. There are obvious limits to the extent to which services can be transferred to the State or their cost met from State funds, without undermining the local government system as we know it. On the other hand there are also practical limits on the independent revenue which the local authorities can raise under the present system. There is no easy solution to the problems of local finance and taxation. The inter-departmental committee which has been examining the question has submitted two interim reports, the first dealing with the valuation system and the second, with exceptions, from the remissions of rates. I expect to receive a third report in the near future. With a view to encouraging constructive public discussion of the matter the Government decided to publish summarised versions of the reports already received. No decision has been made on the recommendations set out in these reports and I would like to take this occasion to invite observations from interested persons and bodies on these reports or generally on the question of local finance and taxation.
Capital expenditure by local authorities in 1966/67 is estimated to have amounted to £24.047 million compared with an actual expenditure of £23,246 million in the preceding year. Expenditure in the present year is expected to show a substantial rise. The bulk of this capital expenditure requirements comes from the Local Loans Fund. The total net indebtedness of local authorities at 31st March, 1967, was estimated to be £210.17 millions, compared with £193.62 millions on 31st March, 1966. These figures of indebtedness do not, of course, represent a deadweight burden on local funds. To a considerable degree the repayments involved are subsidised by the State—as in the case of loans raised for housing, water supply and sewerage schemes—or are met by annuities payable in respect of loans advanced by local authorities for the purchase of private houses.
