HC Deb 23 July 1990 vol 177 cc58-9W
Mr. Wilshire

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what allowances are made for providing local government services to Heathrow airport when calculating the standard spending assessments of the relevant councils.

Mr. Chope

Standard spending assessments measure the cost of providing a standard level of service. They make no specific allowance for the cost of providing services to airports, such as Heathrow. But the assessments for the relevant authorities for police, highway maintenance and other services, which includes environmental health, will reflect the policing needs of the airport and the other demands imposed by visitors and the working population.

Mr. John Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to amend or alter the factors used to arrive at local authorities' standard spending assessments for 1990–91.

Mr. Chope

No.

Mr. Allason

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on what date he intends to announce the standard spending assessments for borough councils for the next financial year;

(2) if he has decided whether to give additional weight to the value of tourism in Torbay's standard spending assessment for the next financial year.

Mr. Chope

My right hon. Friend will announce his proposals for standard spending assessments in the autumn.

Mr. Allason

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how up to date the statistics relating to the proportion of elderly in particular boroughs, that he will use when calculating the standard spending assessments for the next financial year, will be.

Mr. Chope

We intend to use estimates of the resident population at 30 June 1989, prepared by the registrar general, as the source for the proportion of the elderly in each relevant authority. These will be the latest available estimates compiled on a consistent basis across all authorities.