HC Deb 04 December 2001 vol 376 cc291-3W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he plans to take to ensure that Somerset county council's standard spending assessment is set at a level to reflect(a) the costs of delivering services in rural areas, (b) the size of the county's road network, (c) the demands on social services due to the level of the elderly population and (d) the backlog of capital works; and if he will make a statement. [18880]

Dr. Whitehead

All of the factors referred to in the question are reflected to some extent in the current Standard Spending Assessment formulae, which are used to allocate between councils the resources made available by the spending review. We are currently reviewing those formulae and have announced our intention to implement changes to take effect in 2003–04. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is today announcing the provisional 2002–03 local government finance settlement.