§ Mr. TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what allowance in cash terms has been made for the additional costs in 1992–93 of implementing Government legislation for(a) additional residential and day care facilities, (b) improvements to standards in line with social services inspectorate reports and Audit Commission reviews, (c) funding the care element of hostel dwellers' fees and secure accommodation for alleged young offenders on remand under proposals contained in the Criminal Justice Bill and (d) the need for mentally disordered offenders to be kept out of prison;
(2) what allowance in cash terms has been made for additional costs in 1992–93 to reflect the (a) forecast increase in the numbers of elderly people and children, (b) increasing rate of dependency among elderly people, (c) child protection and preventative work, (d) unaccompanied child refugees and asylum seekers, (e) joint finance-tapering and time-expired projects, (f) inner city time-expired projects, (g) the impact of section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966, (h) commitments on capital projects and running costs and (i) incentive allowances;
(3) what allowance in cash terms has been made for the additional costs in 1992–93 of implementing Government legislation for (a) the Children Act 1989, (b) development of home care management under the White Paper "Caring for People", (c) advocacy service for people with special needs, (d) provision for new cohorts of disabled people leaving special education under sections 5 and 6 of the Disabled Persons Act 1986, (e) AIDS and HIV and (f) staff training in respect of community care, the Children Act 1989, child care and non-vocational qualifications;
(4) whether the 1992–93 standard spending assessment figures recognise the full-year effects of last year's pay settlement to social workers and other staff employed in social services; and what assumption has been made by the Government regarding the level of next year's pay award settlements and inflation.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyEarlier this year the local authority associations were invited to take part in discussions with central Government in order to inform the Government's decision on total standard spending for332W the purposes of the 1992–93 revenue support grant settlement. These questions were considered in the discussions. The scope for increased efficiency in existing services and for other expenditure savings was also discussed. The Government's decisions, in detail, were announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 26 November at columns 779–95.
Central Government do not specify in detail how local authorities should allocate the overall resources available to them but rather indicate their view of appropriate spending through standard spending control totals. Personal social services standard spending for 1992–93 has been set at £4,850 million, a cash increase of £347 million over 1991–92. Within this total, to improve the distribution of the revenue support grant, separate standard spending totals exist for the broad client groups: of services for elderly people at £2,225 million, a cash increase of £165 million; for children at £1,654 million, a cash increase of £113 million; and for other clients at £971 million, a cash increase of £69 million. Also within these totals are the new and increased specific grants for personal social services. These are for social services training £29 million, a cash increase of £4.2 million; for AIDS and HIV £15.3 million, a cash increase of £5.1 million; for mental illness £31.4 million, a cash increase of £10.4 million; for services for alcohol and drug misusers £2.1 million, a cash increase of £0.7 million; a new grant for guardians ad litem of £5.7 million; for services in connection with Commonwealth immigrants £8.5 million, a cash increase of £3.5 million; and for the urban programme £23.4 million, a cash increase of £0.6 million.