§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what factors in the standard spending assessments relate to the liability of local authorities to offer a housing benefit disregard for war widows; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloThat part of housing benefit payments which falls to be met by local authorities' general funds rather than being supported directly by central Government subsidy is covered by the all other services element of standard spending assessments—SSAs. This element covers a wide range of services and is distributed on the basis of a number of indicators, including an indicator of social conditions. There is no direct link between any single service covered by this SSA element and any one of the indicators.