§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now consider introducing legislation to make directly related financial grants to local authority social service departments whose services have reduced central Government spending on national health and other services; if he will use such grants to encourage better domiciliary and ancillary services for the aged and disabled; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is now considering with the local authority associations the system of grants to follow local government re-organisation. But a scheme of directly related financial grants would seem to be inconsistent with the suggestion made in the Green Paper "The Future Shape of Local Government Finance" that re-organisation should bring to local government greater freedom from detailed controls by central Government.