§ 5. Mr. Prenticeasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that local authorities whose educational standards are above the average are adversely affected by the system of Exchequer grants which take no account of this factor; and whether he will take steps to assist them.
§ Mr. H. BrookeIt seems to me not unreasonable that a local authority which decides to provide services above the average should find the extra cost itself, rather than transfer it to the general body of taxpayers.
§ Mr. PrenticeDoes the Minister realise that the County Borough of East Ham is receiving in the current financial year about £39,000 less than was expected originally, although the Minister is paying around £9 million more over the country as a whole? Does not this illustrate the unfairness of the situation when applied to a borough with progressive educational standards but with a declining population?
§ Mr. BrookeThe hon. Gentleman asked me a Question about declining population the other day. In fact, the general grant is devised so as to assist local authorities according to their needs, but, of course, if a particular local authority decides of its own free will to spend more heavily on a certain service than almost any other local authority in the country, inevitably it must bear the extra cost itself.
§ Mr. M. StewartBut is not the position that a local authority which provided services above the average always found a substantial part of the cost itself? The trouble now is that local authorities which did that have had by the block grant an extra penalty imposed on them which they had no reason to expect when they developed their services.
§ Mr. BrookeNo, I do not think that is the case. It is true that under the old percentage grant system an authority which decided to spend more on a particular service could put 50 per cent. or 60 per cent. of the cost on to the general body of taxpayers nationally. That is no longer possible.