§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of the last 10 years(a) the gross sum for expenditure on the personal social services in England assumed in the rate support grant settlement and (b) the actual outturn; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanThe table sets out details of the provision in the rate support grant settlement and actual expenditure on the personal social services in England for the period 1981–82 to 1989–90. Comparable figures for the rate support grant provision are not readily available for earlier years. The outturn figure for 1989–90 is based on local authority budget estimates.
£ million Provision Outturn 1981–82 1,551 1,616 1982–83 1,857 1,967 1983–84 2,017 2,132 1984–85 2,156 2,271 1985–86 2,328 2,361 1986–87 2,521 2,628 1987–88 2,843 2,964 1988–89 3,031 3,264 1989–90 3,336 3,603 It is of course the responsibility of each local authority to determine its own spending priorities, in the light of legislative requirements and of its own knowledge of local needs, within the overall resources available.