§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the total external support available to Buckinghamshire county council from business rates and revenue support grant for each financial year since 1990–91 to 1996–97; and if he will make a statement; [4695]
(2) if he will list the total external support available to (a) Aylesbury Vale district council, (b) Wycombe district council and (c) Chiltern district for each financial year since 1990–91; and if he will make a statement. [4696]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordBetween 1990–91 and 1992–93 redistributed non-domestic rates and revenue support grant were paid only into the collection funds operated by billing authorities. These payments supported expenditure incurred by both the billing authority and also by any precepting authorities. There is therefore no data for those 353W years in respect of Buckinghamshire CC, and the figures for the district councils are not comparable with those for later years. The figures from 1993–94 onwards are given.
Non-domestic rates are redistributed to each authority on a per head basis. RSG is calculated as the difference between its standard spending assessment and the sum of the income from its council tax—assuming that its tax was set at the council tax for standard spending for that type of authority—and its share of the distributable amount non-domestic rates. At national level, the change in the amount of RSG reflects change in each of these elements. The differential increases in RSG between authorities will reflect changes in assessed need, function—in particular the changed arrangements for police funding in 1995–96—and in the size of their own tax base.
£thousand Revenue support grant Non domestic rates Buckinghamshire County Council 1993–941 174,081 131,508 1994–951 192,144 121,802 1995–962 166,086 118,192 1996–972 (provisional Settlement) 153,407 134,972 Aylesbury Vale District Council 1993–94 4,385 5,199 1994–95 4,186 4,846 1995–96 3,831 5,069 1996–97 (provisional settlement) 2,893 5,376 Wycombe District Council 1993–94 3,505 5,626 1994–95 4,263 5,192 1995–96 3,903 5,400 1996–97 (provisional settlement) 2,860 5,754 Chiltern District Council 1993–94 0 3,149 1994–95 982 2,912 1995–96 834 3,037 1996–97 (provisional settlement) 584 3,234 1 Including funding for Buckinghamshire's share of Thames Valley Police. 2 Excluding funding for police.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what impact the reduction in the amount of the area costs adjustment has had on the levels of standard spending assessment and total external support for 1996–97 for(a) Buckinghamshire county council, (b) Aylesbury Vales district council, (c) Chiltern district council, and (d) Wycombe district council; and if he will make a statement. [4694]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe changes proposed to the area cost adjustment factors for 1996–97 reflect information from the 1994 new earnings survey showing a narrowing of the cost differentials between authorities in London and the south-east and authorities elsewhere.
We estimate that had we used the factors which were used in the 1995–96 settlement, proposed SSAs for the authorities would have been higher by approximately the following amounts.
354W
£ million Buckinghamshire County Council 2.23 Aylesbury Vale District Council 0.07 Chiltern District Council 0.06 Wycombe District Council 0.07 The authorities' total external support would also have been higher by approximately the same amounts.