Standard Spending Assessments (Hansard, 29 October 1993)

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what consideration he is giving in his review of standard spending assessments to include as factors(a) unemployment, (b) health indicators, in particular standard morbidity rates, and (c) disability indicators;
(2) what plans he has to measure economic deprivation as part of his review of the standard spending assessment system; and what alternative measures he has so far considered in this regard;
(3)what conclusions he has reached on representations made to him concerning the use of health variables as a reflection of the differing social needs of an area, in place of the measures currently used;
(4)what conclusions he has reached on representations he has received concerning the extent to which the weighting within the current standards spending assessment system placed on the very elderly discriminates against those areas which have significant health problems but in which industrial traditions have lead to deaths at an earlier age.

Housing investment programme (HIP) allocations¹² by area

£thousand

1979–80 1982–83 1985–86 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94

Non Metropolitan D.C. 1,009,252 958,581 690,813 525,707 426,030 847,373 847,477 818,398 865,132

County Councils³ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Metropolitan D.C. 648,540 602,396 427,151 377,511 339,386 502,755 485,552 460,156 492,922

London Boroughs⁴ 885,894 630,241 487,083 427,141 329,244 538,164 527,396 547,553 561,412

City of London 706 720 417 281 214 708 668 605 679

England 2,544,392 2,191,938 1,605,463 1,330,640 1,094,874 1,889,000 1,861,093 1,826,712 1,920,145

¹ Allocations for the years up to and including 1989–90 are final allocations, ie the initial allocation plus any increases to the initial allocation made in-year. The allocations figures for 1990–91 and subsequent years are the HIP allocations (housing annual capital guidelines plus specified capital grants) issued prior to the start of the financial year. These figures do not include any supplementary credit approvals issued during the year.

² From 1990–91, under the new capital finance system, the HIP allocation is an assessment of relative need for housing capital expenditure rather than a directly borrowing approval. Borrowing approval is now conveyed by the single, all service, basic credit approval.

³ County councils are not allocated any monies through the Housing Investment Programme as they have no housing stock.

⁴ Allocations for the Greater London Council up to and including 1985–86 are included in the figures for the London boroughs.

828W

§ Mr. Baldry
[holding answer 28 October 1993]: The review of standards spending assessments has considered a wide range of issues including the potential use of indicators of health, disability, unemployment, homelessness and economic deprivation. The underlying statistical analysis has been discussed in detail with the local authority associations. Work on the review has now finished and my right hon. Friend will announce the outcome of the review later in the autumn as part of his proposals for revenue support grant for 1994–95.

§ Mr. Betts
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will as part of the standard spending assessment review consider incorporating factors which are of direct relevance to service provision rather than factors which are proxies for real needs.

§ Mr. Baldry
[holding answer 28 October 1993]: The calculation of standard spending assessments uses factors which are considered to be relevant to the provision of the service in question and cannot be directly influenced by local policy decisions. Inevitably this means that in a number of cases it is necessary to use factors which act as proxies for the underlying need to spend. The review of standard spending assessments has considered the incorporation of 1991 census data and the relevance of existing and other possible new factors.

Housing investment programme (HIP) allocations¹² by area
£thousand
	1979–80	1982–83	1985–86	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94
Non Metropolitan D.C.	1,009,252	958,581	690,813	525,707	426,030	847,373	847,477	818,398	865,132
County Councils³	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Metropolitan D.C.	648,540	602,396	427,151	377,511	339,386	502,755	485,552	460,156	492,922
London Boroughs⁴	885,894	630,241	487,083	427,141	329,244	538,164	527,396	547,553	561,412
City of London	706	720	417	281	214	708	668	605	679
England	2,544,392	2,191,938	1,605,463	1,330,640	1,094,874	1,889,000	1,861,093	1,826,712	1,920,145
¹ Allocations for the years up to and including 1989–90 are final allocations, ie the initial allocation plus any increases to the initial allocation made in-year. The allocations figures for 1990–91 and subsequent years are the HIP allocations (housing annual capital guidelines plus specified capital grants) issued prior to the start of the financial year. These figures do not include any supplementary credit approvals issued during the year.
² From 1990–91, under the new capital finance system, the HIP allocation is an assessment of relative need for housing capital expenditure rather than a directly borrowing approval. Borrowing approval is now conveyed by the single, all service, basic credit approval.
³ County councils are not allocated any monies through the Housing Investment Programme as they have no housing stock.
⁴ Allocations for the Greater London Council up to and including 1985–86 are included in the figures for the London boroughs.