§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what study is being undertaken of the rise in unit costs of services provided by local authority social services departments; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleThis is a matter that is considered by officials of my Department and representatives of the local authority associations under the auspices of the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance.
§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that projections of expenditure on the personal social services and the level of Government grant to local authorities reflect both democratic changes and the rise in unit costs of those services; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleAs regards 1977–78, the extent to which the personal social services can meet the demographic changes will depend on local authorities limiting any rise in units costs. For later years, the Government's views on the level of public expenditure are being set out in the White Paper on The Government's Expenditure Plans (Cmnd. 6721), the first part of which has been published and the second part of which will follow shortly.
The level of Government grant is related to the totality of local authorities' relevant expenditure accepted by the Government.