§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the non-council tax funding made available to the West Midlands police in 1996–97; what it will be in 1997–98; and what is the percentage difference between these two figures; [9016]
(2) what was the spending cap for the West Midlands police authority in 1996–97; what it will be in 1997–98; and what is the percentage difference between these two figures. [9017]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe information requested is as follows:
1996–97 £ million Provisional 1997–98 £ million Percentage increase Non-council tax funding of budget requirement1 309.017 314.391 1.7 Other grants2—Police specific grant, Additional Rule 2 0.991 2.965 Total non-council tax funding 310.008 317.356 2.4 Maximum budget requirement under proposed capping criteria 343.218 354.201 3.2 1 Comprises revenue support grant, redistributed non-domestic rates, and principal formula police specific grant, which together represent the amount of Exchequer funding in support of the authority's budget requirement. 2 Excluding certain capital financing grants, totalling 1.359 million in 1996–97; the figure for these grants in 1997–98 is not yet available.