§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish details of the economic model used to forecast local government expenditure and rate support grant mechanisrns.
§ Mrs. RumboldA number of methods are used to forecast local authority expenditure and the impact of rate 75W support grant mechanisms. These include taking account of past trends and future expenditure commitments, and the reports of the expenditure groups of the consultative council on local government finance. Limited use has also been made of a prediction model, details of which will shortly be published in the academic journal "Government and Policy".