HC Deb 31 October 1994 vol 248 cc984-5W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what effect the new formula for standard spending assessments has had on Coventry city council; and where the city would have ranked in England for council tax levels under(a) the old standard spending assessment formula and (b) the new one

Mr. Robert B. Jones

Between 1993–94 and 1994–45 there was a reduction of 3.7 per cent. in Coventry's SSA attributable to the SSA review and the introduction of 1991 census information. Differences in the information available for 1993–94 and 1994–95 make it impossible to disaggregate this figure further

RSG is distributed so that if all authorities spent at the level of their SSA, then all taxpayers in a given band could pay the same level of council tax whilst receiving a standard level of service. In practice, council tax levels are determined by the local authority's own decisions on spending levels and the use of reserves, not by standard spending assessments

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his target maximum percentage rise in standard spending assessments over the next two years

Mr. Robert B. Jones

My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced increases in total standard spending for 1995–96 and 1996–7. They were laid before the House in the"Financial Statement and Budget Report 1994–95" on 30 November 1993. Paragraph 5.75, page 104, refers to them.

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with his colleagues on the effects on standard spending assessments of establishing new police authorities and the implementation of universal nursery education

Mr. Robert B. Jones

On the standard spending assessments for the police, there has been continuous contact between officials about development of the formula. Ministers in the Home Office and in my Department are jointly considering the options

The Government are considering the implications of the commitment to nursery education and will announce its conclusions in due course.