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Local Government

At the risk of upsetting the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Sir Nicholas Winterton), may I draw the Minister's attention to the explanatory memorandum? Bearing in mind the fact that several changes have been made to the figures, it cites estimated annual savings of more than £16 million a year and transitional costs of approximately £25 million. Those figures were not in the proposal, which states that the ongoing savings will be £30.1 million and that transitional costs will be £16.6 million. In other words, the Government do not accept the figures that they presented.