§ Mr. HeppellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what damping grant is allocated to Nottinghamshire county council in(a) actual and (b) real terms; and what level in each case is allocated to the average shire council.
§ Mr. Robert B. Jones"Damping" or SSA reduction grant was introduced in 1994–95 to assist local authorities which experienced a reduction of more than 2 per cent. in their standard spending assessment as a result of the revision of SSA methodology in 1993 or by the incorporation of 1991 census data. No county council experienced such changes and none therefore received SSA reduction grant. Nottingham city council did and received £1.146 million in 1994–95.
Under the proposed settlement, reduction grant in respect of the changes in 1994–95 will continue to be paid in 1995–96 with an increase in the threshold for payment up to a further 2 per cent. to 4 per cent. The amount of SSA reduction grant that Nottingham city council will receive under the proposed settlement is £348,000.