§ 16. Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the level of Government funding from his Department for the provision of public services by Rotherham metropolitan borough council in 1996–97. [3133]
§ Mr. CurryThe main financial support from central Government is the revenue support grant and redistributed national non-domestic rates. Rotherham gets £159,894 million from those sources.
§ Mr. MacShaneIs it not a fact that if Rotherham and other northern and midlands boroughs got the same money as central Government give to sleaze-ridden Westminster, we would not have to put up council tax? When will the Government treat the rest of the country on a par with their friends in sleaze-ridden councils in London?
§ Mr. CurryWestminster, of course, does not get anywhere near the amount of grant that Tower Hamlets receives. If Rotherham were to get the grant of Tower Hamlets, that would clearly be a massive injustice. I intend to see that grant goes where it is most needed, and the inner London authorities are uniformly where it is most needed.