§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish figures at the time of his announcement of the local government settlement for 1998–99 which reflect the impact of his grant and capping decisions on the actual financial position of each local authority. [17812]
§ Ms ArmstrongI shall publish and place in the Library of the House tables of figures showing my proposals, for each English local authority, for Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) in total and for each major service block; and for each authority's entitlement to business rates, revenue support grant and special grant in respect of SSA reductions. I shall also publish figures showing the provisional effect on each local authority of the capping guidelines that will be announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. My officials will also send to each local authority an explanation of how their figures are derived. Subsequent decisions on budgets and local rates of council taxes are a matter for each local authority.