§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the proposed changes to the distribution mechanisms for civil defence grants. [89960]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe Home Office provides £14.038 million civil defence grant per annum to eligible local authorities in England and Wales as a contribution towards the cost incurred in meeting their civil defence duties. The grant is not intended to meet the full cost of their emergency planning services.
The current system of grant distribution is based on a formula, agreed with the then Local Authority Associations in 1992, and largely based on a two-tier system of local government. The reorganisation of local government created new Unitary authorities in England and Wales, all with a responsibility for emergency planning and, consequently, access to civil defence grant. This reorganisation created numerous anomalies within the funding arrangements that could only be properly addressed by introducing a new mechanism.
The sole avenue of consultation on this issue has been with the Local Government Association (LGA). Following discussions with the LGA a new three-tier grant distribution mechanism has been announced. The mechanism is based on the following rationale:
all 178 grant eligible authorities will receive a basic allocation of £45,000 to ensure a minimum level of service, and the delivery of basic standards of preparedness;County Councils will receive an allocation of £10,000 for each of the District Councils within the County boundary in recognition of the service that a County must provide to constituent Districts; andremaining grant after the first two elements have been addressed will be allocated according to Bellwin thresholds. The Bellwin Scheme, operated by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, sets a level of expenditure above which central government may contribute to costs incurred by local authorities in responding to major incidents. The use of Bellwin acknowledges the relationship between population size and the workload of emergency planning teams in large areas.This new mechanism provides funds to all eligible authorities and now has the advantage of being clear, readily understood and equitable.
To ensure protection to those areas where grant will reduce, the full impact of the new mechanism will be phased over one year, 2000–01, with no authority losing more than 10 per cent. of its current allocation.
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has responded to Shropshire County Council's letter of 18 June regarding the proposed distribution mechanism for civil defence grants; and if he will make a statement.[89961]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe Head of Emergency Planning replied to the letter from the Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council on 6 July.