§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the outcome of the discussions on 8 January between the Minister for Local government and the Association of London Government about asylum seeker support. [145335]
§ Ms ArmstrongI met the Association of London Government on 8 January to discuss their response to the proposed local government finance settlement for 2001–02, on which I announced my proposals to the House on 27 November. I shall take into account the points they made, together with those made by the Local Government Association, individual local authorities and others before putting the Government's final proposals before the House for approval. In the course of that meeting the ALG raised their concerns about the costs of housing homeless asylum seekers.