Standard Spending Assessments (Hansard, 20 July 1993)

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of the reduction in the number of indicators in changing the standard spending assessment systems of local authority grant distribution;
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(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the indicators used in the SSA system to reflect fully in the distribution of grants to local authorities the range and variety of different needs which they experience.

§ Mr. Baldry
The system of standard spending assessments was intended to simplify the method of distributing grant to local authorities compared with previous methods. One of the main simplifications was the reduction in the number of indicators used. SSAs were also intended to be easier to understand without any reduction in fairness. We are currently reviewing SSAs and in particular the range of social factors used and the weight placed upon them. As part of the review we will consider the scope for using new indicators.

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to appoint outside consultants to advise him on the review of standard spending assessments.

§ Mr. Baldry
Some external research has already taken place which will inform the review of standard spending assessments. We will appoint outside consultants to advise further on the review, if it is felt to be necessary.

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the validity of area cost adjustment in the standard spending assessments for 1993–94 as a measure of the differences in providing similar services in different parts of the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Baldry
The area cost adjustment for 1993–94 aims to reflect variations in average employment costs facing authorities in the provision of their services in different areas. It is confined to London and the south-east because survey evidence has shown that these are the only regions facing employment costs which are consistently and significantly above the national average. We are reviewing the calculation of the area cost adjustment, in consultation with the local authority associations, as part of the wider review of standard spending assessments in progress.

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent to which additional educational needs parts of the standard spending assessment reflect different needs and costs which face different local government areas.

§ Mr. Baldry
We are considering the additional educational needs index used in standard spending assessments as part of the current review. The social factors used in standard spending assessments are selected to be representative of variation in the potential need for spending on the particular services for which different authorities have responsibility.

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will consider using information on health available for the first time in the 1991 census as part of the standard spending assessment for 1994–95;
(2) what assessment he has made of the validity of the use of the percentage of single-parent families in a case as a measurement of need as part of the education and social services element of the standard spending assessment system.

§ Mr. Baldry
We are considering a range of health and social factors for use in standard spending assessments as part of the current review.
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