§ Sir Peter EmeryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will increase the level of Standard Spending Assessments of local authorities in respect of costs specific to provision of services in rural areas. [123915]
§ Ms ArmstrongStandard Spending Assessments already include elements that recognise that there are additional costs in providing services in rural areas. In the White Paper, "Modern Local Government—In Touch With The People", we said that we did not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of Standard Spending Assessment while we conduct a review of the system of grant distribution.