§ Sir Dudley SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the counties which have obtained a higher standard spending assessment settlement per unit of population in the current year than Warwickshire; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloThe following counties have a higher standard spending assessment expressed in pounds per adult than Warwickshire for 1991–92: Avon, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk and Wiltshire.
§ Sir Dudley SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will now direct his officials to have talks with local government officers in Warwickshire about the county's financial situation;
(2) what advice or assistance is available to county councils which represent to him that the results of the standard spending assessment formula are disadvantageous to them.
§ Mr. PortilloWhen the provisional standard spending assessments were announced on 26 November, local authorities were invited to make representations up to 31 December. Ministers met delegations from local authorities up to 9 January.
The final standard spending assessment formulae for 1992–93 have now been approved by the House. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear his intentions with regard to charge capping. It is now for 191W Warwickshire and all other authorities to determine their budgets for 1992–93. It would not be appropriate for the Department to become involved in budgeting decisions. Any authority designated for capping will have the opportunity to make representations if it decides to challenge the level of the cap proposed by the Secretary of State.