§ Mr. Hordernasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take into account increases in population when making comparisons between local authority expenditure in 1978–79 and 1980–81 for the purpose of controlling local authority expenditure.
§ Mr. KingThe effect of population changes on the demand for services is taken into account in the determination of the Government's public expenditure plans and in the distribution of rate support grant. In setting current expenditure targets for individual authorities for 1981–82 it was not practicable to take detailed account of the individual circumstances of each authority.