HC Deb 28 June 1991 vol 193 cc565-6W
Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the reasons why the spread of parks, woods, sports grounds and undeveloped land in the borough of Greenwich, through the ward weighted density calculation, leads to reduced other services standard spending assessment.

Mr. Key

Ward weighted density is one of the indicators used to calculated the all other services element of standard spending assessments (SSAs). It is based on the number of persons per hectare in each ward in an authority, using information from the 1981 Census; and on the overall population change for that authority between 1981 and the most recent available estimate of population produced by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. A full definition of the indicator is provided in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) which is in the Library. Any change in the area

Table showing the proportion of children in care, perinatal and infant mortality rates for Greenwich, Wandsworth and Lewisham
Authority
Greenwich Wandsworth Lewisham
Children in care as a proportion of all resident children—latest data (year shown in brackets) 6.94 (1990) 8.05 (1990) 11.10 (1985)
Perinatal mortality rate1 1990 7.1 7.2 9.7
Infant mortality rate 1 1990 8.2 7.8 7.3
1 Rate per 1,000 live births.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for Greenwich, Wandsworth and Lewisham(a) the numbers of children under five and under 18 years, (b) the SSA for social services-children, per child and (c) the social index element per child and the factors and the dates of base figures within the social index.

Mr. Key

The following table shows for each of the three specified authorities the number of resident children aged under 18 years and under five years of age at 30 June 1989; the amount of Children's Social Services SSA per of Greenwich's parks and woods since 1981 will only have affected its score for this indicator and hence its SSA if this resulted in a change in the borough's resident population.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the main services within other services part of standard spending assessment; what are the elements determining the allocation; and what are the characteristics of Greenwich in the all ages social index that lead to the per resident allocation being half the Lewisham figure and one-third the Wandsworth figure.

Mr. Key

A list of the main services covered by the all other services element of standard spending assessments and details of the elements determining its allocation are included in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). Information on the five factors which comprise the all ages social index is given in the Standard Spending Assessment Handbook 1991–92. Both documents are in the Library.

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