HC Deb 23 January 1984 vol 52 c621
8. Mr. Ioan Evans

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representation he has received regarding the rate support grant for Wales.

12. Mr. Wigley

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has had from local authorities in Wales concerning the level of rate support grants for 1984–85 in Wales.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

Representations have been received from the Welsh Counties Committee, the Committee of Welsh District Councils, 22 individual local authorities in Wales and one other organisation.

Mr. Evans

Has the Secretary of State read the letter from the Association of District Councils in Wales, in which it argues that the settlement is unreasonable and grossly unfair to district councils as it will result in the loss of almost £10 million of block grant, or a 7 per cent. reduction compared with inflation of 5 per cent? Does the Minister agree that the Welsh settlement illustrates that central Government are completely unable to fix targets for district councils, although they will be making provision to do so in the Rates Bill?

Mr. Edwards

Very few people are now repeating the exaggerated forecasts of likely rate increases that were made by the district councils when the settlement was first made. Provision for the current year is 3.8 per cent. more than was included in this year's budgets. Current provision is 4.8 per cent. in excess of this year's current expenditure provision. These are substantial increases. Local authorities will undoubtedly face some difficult decisions, but some of the language that is being used about them is greatly exaggerated.

Mr. Wigley

If the concept of grant-related expenditure has any meaning, is it not ridiculous to penalise authorities that are spending below their GRE though above target?

Mr. Edwards

Local authorities arrived at below-GRE spending provision because they believed they were meeting the requirements of their areas. The local authorities were agreed—I consulted them on this issue — that we should not adjust the target basis to take greater account of that factor this year. It was on their insistence that we did not alter the factors on the lines suggested by the hon. Gentleman.