§ Mr. Ripponasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now state what would be the extra contribution to local authority expenditure in Northumberland in 1977–78 in respect of the resources element of the rate support grant if the rate support grant were calculated on the basis proposed for 1974–75 in the White Paper issued in January 1974, Command Paper No. 5532.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettGiven changes since 1974–75 in local rateable values and population and in the amount of grant available, such a comparison presents difficulties. Cmnd. 5532 proposed a national standard rateable value of £154 per head, and that 27 per cent. of the total of the needs and resources elements should go to the resources element. For 1977–78 the comparable figures will be £173 and 32.5 per cent. It follows that if the proposals in Cmnd. 5532 had been used to distribute grant in 1977–78 the grant entitlement of every district in Northumberland would be considerably reduced in 1977–78.