§ Mr. Wadeasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the assurances that have been given that educational development would not be prejudiced by the introduction of the block grant, why the total provisional amount of general grant for the Borough of Huddersfield for the year 1959–60 is less than the specific education grants that would have been made, based on estimates for the year 1959–60, if the making of specific education grants had been maintained.
§ Mr. BevinsThe new system under the Local Government Act, 1958, which will be introduced with suitable arrangements to ease the transition, is designed to distribute a general grant according to the relative needs of the authorities in substitution for grants related to expenditure. Many factors have to be taken into account, as explained in the discussions on the Bill and in the recent debate on the first general grant order. One of these factors is the pooling of certain education expenditure, which will result in a substantial increase in the provisional amount of general grant for the County Borough of Huddersfield.