§ Mr. Maplesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what level the Inner London education authority would have to reduce its spending (a) to receive any rate support grant, and (b) to receive maximum rate support grant; and what that maximum grant would be.
§ Mr. Chris PattenOn the basis of the rate support grant settlement announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment in December, the Inner London education authority would receive block grant in 1986–87 if its spending were less than £521 million. The authority would receive the maximum block108W grant for which it could theoretically qualify if its total expenditure were £385 million, at that point its block grant would be equal to its expenditure.
The objectives of the block grant system are to compensate for differences in needs and rateable resources between authorities. Achievement of these objectives requires that authorities with high rateable resources should receive less grant than authorities less favourably placed; the discouragement of high levels of spending also requires that in general authorities should face a loss of grant as they increase their expenditure. The level of expenditure at which the Inner London education authority would attract block grant is a reflection of its high rateable resources. There is no implication that the authority should spend at or below this level.