§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the value of revenue support grant for the borough of Sunderland at current prices for each year from 1979.
§ Mr. KeyThe information is as follows:
1991–92 prices £ million Rate support grant 1979–80 152.6 1980–18 1151.5 1981–82 2114.3 1982–83 108.3 1983–84 104.4 1984–85 99.9 1985–86 396.8 1986–87 99.7 1987–88 103–5 1988–89 108–0 1989–90 100–6 Revenue support grant 1990–91 4 588.8 1991–92 73–6 Note: The information given is not available on a comparable basis for all years, i.e.:
1In 1979–80 and 1980–81 no rate support grant (RSG) payments were made to metropolitan county councils and Sunderland's rate support grant was correspondingly higher in those years.
2In 1981–82 to 1985–86 inclusive, rate support grant payments were made to metropolitan counties (and other upper tier authorities) and Sunderland's rate support grant was correspondingly lower.
3In April 1986, the metropolitan county councils were abolished and arrangements for paying grant changed accordingly.
4In April 1990, the new local authority finance system was introduced and revenue support grant replaced rate support grant as the main central Government grant to local authorities. They are not directly comparable. The 1990–91 figure includes £11.25 million (at 1991–92 prices) which Sunderland received under the area safety net.
5Under the local government finance system introduced in 1990 the level of revenue support grant is affected, inter alia, by the amount of non-domestic rates distributed from the national pool. In 1990–91 Sunderland's receipts (at 1991–92 prices) from the pool were £62–7 million and in 1991–92 they will be £75.8 million. For comparison, in 1989–90 the authority's non-domestic rate income was £38.0 million (again at 1991–92 prices).