PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Public Works Loan Board (6 March 2019)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2019 to Question 225566 on Public Works Loan Board, what the purpose was of each loan since 2010; and if his Department will include that information as part of the monthly loans report.

Asked by:
Chris Philp (Conservative)

Information about the purpose of Public Works Loan Board loans is not centrally held. The Public Works Loan Board operates as a non-discretionary lender, and it is not therefore part of its arrangements to require information on the reasons for, or circumstances surrounding, loan applications or borrowing activity.

Responsibility for local authority spending and borrowing decisions lies with locally-elected council Members, who are democratically accountable to their electorates. Local authorities are required to have regard to the Prudential Code and statutory guidance when they borrow from the PWLB or from any other lender, these are published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and form the Prudential Framework. The main objective of the Prudential Framework is to ensure that the capital investment plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable.

Answered by:
Elizabeth Truss (Conservative)
11 March 2019