§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Worcestershire's standard spending assessment for fire services; and if he will make a statement. [23219]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWorcestershire county council is a constituent local authority of the Hereford and Worcester fire authority. For 2002–03 the fire standard spending assessment for the constituent authorities will in total be, provisionally, £16.004 million. This represents an increase of 4.9 per cent. on the current year (for Worcestershire county council this represents an increase of 4.8 per cent). It compares with an average increase of 4 per cent. for fire authorities in England.