HC Deb 16 December 1977 vol 941 cc412-4W
Mr. Roderick

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the difference between the estimates of the Association of County Councils and those of his Department on the drop in rate poundage support for local authorities as a result of the rate support grant order.

Mr. Shore

My Department's calculations on changes in rate poundages resulting from the adoption of the new rate support grant distribution arrangements are based on a comparison between the amount authorities would receive under the distribution arrangements for 1978–79 and the amount the} would have received if the distribution arrangements for 1977–78 had been applied to the 1978–79 grant total. The Association of County Councils' estimates are based on a comparison between authorities' entitlement to grant under th; 1978–79 distribution arrangements and the share of grant which they received in 1977–78, This does not compare like with like. It fails to take into account the terms on which London's grant entitlement was calculated under the 1977–78 settlement; this would have resulted in an altered entitlement for London even if the same distribution arrangements as for 1977–78 had been used in 1978–79.

Mr. Lee

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total value in pound sterling of a 1 per cent. increase or decrease in the annual rate support grant for England and Wales.

Mr. Guy Barnett

The rate support grant* payable in respect of 1978–79 is £6,521 million, at November 1977 prices. A 1 per cent. change in this amount, therefore, would comprise about £65 million.

* Excluding specific and supplementary grants.

Mr. Ronald Brown

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the estimated effect on local authorities in 1978–79 of the difference between the 1977–78 rate support grant distribution arrangements and those in 1978–79.

Mr. Shore

The estimated effect in rate poundage terms of the change from the 1977–78 distribution arrangements to those for 1978–79 are shown in the attached table. Authorities marked with an asterisk qualify for safety net payments; the figures in brackets show the loss they would incur if no safety net payments were made.

Englhish Shire Counties
Per cent.
Avon +0.1
Bedfordshire +0.2
Berkshire -0.8
Buckinghamshire -1.1
Cambridgeshire -0.5
Cheshire -0.4
Cleveland -0.1
Cornwall -0.5
Cumbria -0.6
Derbyshire +1.3
Devonshire +0.3
Dorset -0.4
Durham -0.4
East Sussex -0.7
Essex* -2.0 (-3.9)
Gloucestershire -0.5
Hampshire -0.2
Herefordshire and Worcestershire 0
Hertfordshire* -2.0 (-4.2)
Humberside +1.3
Isle of Wight -1 .4
Kent* -2.0 (-3.3)
Lancashire +0.6
Leicestershire +0.1
Lincolnshire +0.6
Norfolk +0.9
Northamptonshire -0.9
Northumberland -1.1
North Yorkshire +0.8
Nottinghamshire +1.0
Oxfordshire +0.6
Shropshire -0.8
Somerset -0.1
Staffordshire -0.4
Suffolk -0.2
Surrey -0.7
Warwickshire -1.3
West Sussex* -2.0 (-2.4)
Wiltshire -1.0
Metropolitan Districts
Per cent.
Bolton -1.0
Bury +7.9
Manchester +3.3
Oldham +3.4
Rochdale +2.4
Salford +2.6
Stockport +1.7
Tameside +3.3
Trafford -2.0
Wigan* -2.0 (-3.1)
Knowsley* -2.0 (-2.2)
Per cent.
Liverpool +0.4
St. Helens +2.1
Sefton -0.6
Wirral -0.9
Barnsley +1.2
Doncaster -0.7
Rotherham -1.3
Sheffield* -2.0 (-3.0)
Gateshead +1.9
Newcastle +0.2
North Tyneside +2.1
South Tyneside -1.1
Sunderland* -2.0 (-2.3)
Birmingham +1.2
Coventry +1.8
Dudley -1.2
Sandwell +1.2
Solihull -1.5
Walsall -0.7
Wolverhampton +1.7
Bradford +1.2
Calderdale +0.4
Kirklees* -2.0 (-2.0)
Leeds 0
Wakefield +0.1
Welsh Counties
Per cent.
Clwyd -0.8
Dyfed -0.1
Gwent +0.1
Gwynedd* -2.0 (-2.3)
Mid Glamorgan +1.1
Powys* -2.0 (-2.4)
South Glamorgan -0.2
West Glamorgan -0.6
London Boroughs
Per cent.
City -0.3
Camden +0.5
Greenwich +0.2
Hackney +2.0
Hammersmith +2.5
Islington +0.5
Kensington and Chelsea +0.1
Lambeth +2.2
Lewisham +0.2
Southwark +0.7
Tower Hamlets -0.8
Wandsworth +1.6
Westminster +0.2
Barking +0.2
Barnet +0.5
Bexley +0.2
Brent +1.6
Bromley +0.5
Croydon +1.2
Ealing +1.7
Enfield +1.1
Haringey +2.4
Harrow +0.1
Havering -0.8
Hillingdon +1.0
Hounslow +0.3
Kingston -0.5
Merton +1.1
Newham +0.1
Redbridge +1.6
Richmond +2.3
Sutton +0.7
Waltham Forest +1.6