§ Mr. Goodladasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been in each of the last 10 years (a) the percentage increase in the needs element of the rate support grant allocated to Cheshire, (b) the percentage increase for England and Wales as a whole, (c) the increase in the population of Cheshire and (d) the increase in the population of England and Wales as a whole.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettOwing to the changes in local authority boundaries at the date of local government reorganisation in 1974, figures of the needs element of rate support grant in respect of the area covered by the present Cheshire county council do not exist for earlier years. The available figures for percentage increases in the needs element are as follows:
PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN NEEDS ELEMENT ON PREVIOUS YEAR Year England and Wales Cheshire 1969–70 16.3 * 1970–71 15.6 * 1971–72 16.2 * 1972–73 17.0 * 1973–74 21.2 * 1974–75 14.6 — 1975–76 22.2 27.7 1976–77 9.4 4.8 1977–78 2.8 —0.1 1978–79 9.8 5.9† *.Not.available. †.Latest.estimates The increases in population as certified for rate support grant purposes are as follows:
777W
INCREASE IN POPULATION ON PREVIOUS YEAR (thousands) Year England and Wales Cheshire 1968 233.0 16.0 1969 194.0 13.0 1970 140.0 11.0 1971 174.7 13.6 1972 184.0 12.5 1973 139.4 15.8 1974 23.1 9.0 1975 —1.8 7.1 1976 —12.4 3.3 1977 —67.5 —1.3 The figures of population for Cheshire have been calculated on the basis of the present boundaries.
§ Mr. Goodladasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of the total needs element of the rate support grant has been allocated to Cheshire in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettOwing to boundary changes at the time of local government reorganisation comparable figures for the earlier years are not available. The proportion of the total needs element of the rate support grant going to Cheshire in each of the years from 1974–75 is as follows:
Per cent 1974–75 1.635 1975–76 1.710 1976–77 1.637 1977–78 1.591 1978–79 1.536 1979–80 1.536 The figures for 1979–80 are in accordance with the Rate Support Grant Order 1978 at present laid before the House.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what distinctions he has made between London boroughs in the allocation of the forthcoming year's rate support grant; and on what basis he came to his conclusions.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettThe arrangements for needs element distribution and rates equalisation within London for 1979–80 are set out at appendix E of the report on the Rate Support Grant Order 1978, which is now laid before the House. These arrangements use the analysis of London authorities' expenditure needs accepted by the London Boroughs Association and the Greater London Council. They also use the same mechanics for the rate equalisation arrangements as in 1978–79. We decided, however, in the light of the recent widening of the gap between inner and outer London average rate burdens, to set the level of the all-London rate equalisation scheme to give a bigger relative advantage to inner London.