asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a circular to rating authorities in Wales in order to explain in detail to those authorities how current Government policies will affect local rates.

No. The Government's views on local authority expenditure generally are set out in my right hon. Friend's Report on the Rate Support Grant Order (H.C. 172), and I understand that the local authority associations will be issuing to their members a detailed report on the negotiations leading up to that Order.