§ 16. Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now take into consideration the backlog of street repairs which include footpaths and roadways in the metropolitan borough of St. Helens when making up his rate support grant for the borough.
§ Mr. KingBlock grant is distributed in accordance with a formula of general application to all local authorities. The distribution is based on an analysis of the costs and spending needs of all local authorities for all of their services, including road maintenance. I refer the hon. Member to the document on grant-related expenditure published yesterday with the rate support grant settlement for an account of how this analysis was done.
§ Mr. SpriggsIs the Minister aware that his right hon. Friend misled me yesterday when he replied about St. Helens, saying that he had visited St. Helens twice and he knew the town well? Will he permit me to escort him to parts of the town where roads and footpaths have not been repaired for many years and which consequently constitute a danger to pedestrians and traffic? Is he aware that many of the derelict sites cannot be reclaimed because of financial controls? What does he plan to do about that?
§ Mr. KingI am flabbergasted. The hon. Member is more concerned with the account that my right hon. Friend gave of his visits than with recognising that in this settlement St. Helens will receive a fairer allocation than it did under the previous settlement. I would have imagined that, with his responsibility as Member of Parliament, he would have been most vociferous then in his complaints at the treatment of St. Helens. At least, he should recognise that the objective analysis in our proposals acknowledges the problems of individual areas.