§ Mr. WatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list those councils which have(a) sought and (b) had meetings with him or his ministerial colleagues in the last three months in order to make representations about their standard spending assessment allocation. [106817]
§ Ms Beverley HughesWe consulted local authorities on our proposals for the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2000–01 on 25 November 1999. We made it clear that, given the degree of stability we introduced into the settlement this year, we would not invite local authorities to hold meetings with Ministers during consultation on our proposals. During this period we received written requests for meetings from or on behalf of eight local authorities. These were:
- Surrey County Council
- London Borough of Merton
- Poole District Council
- Reigate and Banstead District Council
- Shropshire County Council
- South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority
- Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
- Leicester City Council.
No Minister from this Department met those authorities to discuss their representations. I did however have separate meetings during that period with the representatives of county councils, district councils and metropolitan district councils on 21 December at the suggestion of the Local Government Association. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions also met with the Association of London Government on 10 January and the Local Government Association on 13 January. All representations, whether made in writing or at meetings, were fully considered in reaching final decisions on the settlement.
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