§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money has been(a) allocated to and (b) spent by Westminster council for flood prevention work in each of the last 10 years.
1982–83—1989–90 (1) Central Government Grants to Westminster City Council (2) Expenditure funded by grants, rates and revenue balances (3) 1/2 £'000 £'000 Percentage 1982–83 37,660 57,382 65.6 1983–84 16,028 62,425 25.7 1984–85 17,586 61,231 28.7 1985–86 19,458 64,297 30.3 1986–87 20,782 105,715 19.7 1987–88 21,619 98,197 22.0 1988–89 22,210 96,811 22.9 1989–90 22,013 108,686 20.3 Notes:
1. Grants comprise Rate Support Grant and relevant specific grants. Figures for 1989–90 are based on budget returns.
2. The functions of Westminster City Council changed following the abolition of the Greater London Council on 1 April 1986, and figures for years before this date are not therefore comparable with later years. Similarly the Inner London Education Authority was abolished on 1 April 1990 and figures for Westminster before this date are not therefore comparable with the figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95 shown below.
3. For the years before 1 April 1990 it is not possible to identify the amounts of domestic rates, as distinct from non-domestic rates, which were used to finance expenditure by Westminster City Council.
4. Figures for earlier years are not available.
1990–91—1992–93
Under the community charge system, Revenue Support Grant, Non-Domestic Rate entitlement and community charges were paid into the Collection Fund for the area. Westminster City
1993–94—1994–95 (1) Central Government Grants and non-domestic rates entitlement (2) Revenue Expenditure (3) 1/2 (4) Council tax requirement (5) 4/2 £'000 £'000 Per cent. £'000 Per cent. 1993–94 155,373 234,389 66.3 13,977 6.0 1994–95 160,722 226,904 70.8 7,609 3.4 Notes:
1. Grants comprise Revenue Support Grant, specific and special grants within Aggregate External Finance.
2. Revenue expenditure is defined as expenditure met from revenue balances, specific and special grants within AEF, Revenue Support Grant, non-domestic rate entitlement, and the Council Tax requirement.
3. The Council Tax requirement is the amount to be transferred from the Collection Fund to the billing authority's General Fund in respect of Council Taxes. It therefore includes amounts in respect of Council Tax benefit and Council Tax transitional relief.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money Westminster council has received in tourism grants in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. CurryThe Government do not pay tourism grants to local authorities. However, allowances based on visitor numbers are made within the standard spending assessment system which has been used since 1990 to distribute revenue support grant to local authorities, and similar allowances were made in the grant-related expenditure assessment system which was used to
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§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of the expenditure of Westminster council was provided(a) from central Government sources; and (b) by community charge or council tax subventions, in each of the last 20 years.
§ Mr. CurryThe available information is as follows:
Council's expenditure was funded largely by a demand on the Collection Fund, but this demand did not differentiate among the sources of income to the fund, and it is not therefore possible to identify its components.
distribute rate support grant up to that date. The allowances made for Westminster City Council over the last 10 years are shown in the table.
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Contribution within SSA/GRE based on visitor numbers Year £ million 1994–95 5.5 1993–94 3.8 1992–93 3.9 1991–92 1.7 1990–91 0.7 1989–90 0.7 1988–89 0.6
Year £ million 1987–88 0.4 1986–87 0.4 1985–86 0.4 In 1994–95, the allowance was extended to include day as well as overnight visitors; data for this purpose had not previously been available. Other significant changes in the allowance similarly reflect changes in the methodology or the definitions used. Notably, in 1992–93, more recent information was used, allowing estimates of foreign visitor nights to be incorporated for the first time into the SSA formula; and in 1991–92 the weighting attributed to overnight visitors in the formula was increased, following representations from many resort authorities, from 25 per cent. to 50 per cent. of resident population.