§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the percentage increase in the Rate Support Grant Order 1976–77 over corresponding payment for 1975–76 for English councils;
(2) why the percentage increase in the needs element of the rate support grant 1976–77 was higher for every county in Wales than that of the average increase for shire counties in England.
§ Mr. OakesNeeds element payments to English local authorities under the main RSG Order for 1976–77 are expected 685W to show the following increases over the corresponding payments for 1975–76:
English Counties Increase % Avon 22 Bedfordshire 26 Berkshire 19 Buckinghamshire 24 Cambridgeshire 23 Cheshire 23 Cleveland 28 Cornwall 29 Cumbria 24 Derbyshire 27 Devon 23 Dorset 23 Durham 30 East Sussex 24 Essex 19 Gloucestershire 24 Hampshire 23 Hereford and Worcs 26 Hertfordshire 20 Humberside 27 Isle of Wight 32 Kent 21 Lancashire 30 Leicestershire 29 Lincolnshire 30 Norfolk 28 Northampton 33 Northumberland 26 North Yorkshire 26 Nottinghamshire 32 Oxfordshire 20 Salop 29 Somerset 29 Staffordshire 25 Suffolk 24 Surrey 13 Warwickshire 23 West Sussex 21 Wiltshire 21
686W
Metropolitan Districts Increase % Bolton 34 Bury 29 Manchester 29 Oldham 32 Rochdale 33 Salford 35 Stockport 24 Tameside 32 Trafford 29 Wigan 27 Knowsley 27 Liverpool 25 St. Helens 19 Sefton 29 Wirral 22 Barnsley 29 Doncaster 32 Rotherham 28 Sheffield 27 Gateshead 30 Newcastle upon Tyne 24 North Tyneside 28 South Tyneside 32 Sunderland 29 Birmingham 29 Coventry 24 Dudley 22 Sandwell 32
Solihull 26 Walsall 32 Wolverhampton 31 Bradford 32 Calderdale 27 Kirklees 32 Leeds 24 Wakefield 27
London Boroughs Increase % Camden 51 Greenwich 52 Hackney 50 Hammersmith 47 Islington 48 Kensington and Chelsea 47 Lambeth 49 Lewisham 48 Southwark 50 Tower Hamlets 54 Wandsworth 49 Westminster 62 Barking 30 Barnet 36 Bexley 38 Brent 46 Bromley 45 Croydon 43 Ealing 42 Enfield 40 Haringey 43 Harrow 31 Havering 34 Hillingdon 41 Hounslow 46 Kingston upon Thames 37 Merton 38 Newham 42 Redbridge 39 Richmond upon Thames 44 Sutton 47 Waltham Forest 39 It should be noted that some of the data used in this calculation are still provisional.
The average increase for English non-metropolitan counties (24 per cent.) is reduced by the relatively smaller increases for several Home Counties. The increases for Welsh county councils range from 26 per cent. to 31 per cent. Almost half the English counties are within or above that range.