§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set up an inquiry into the cost of providing the same standard of services in rural and in urban authorities for the services covered by the Other County Services element of SSAs. [21941]
§ Mr. RaynsfordPossible changes to SSA formulae are discussed with local government in the SSA Sub-Group of the Settlement Working Group. Whether any work on the costs incurred by rural and urban authorities in providing services covered by the county level "All Other Services" SSA formula is carried out this year depends 9W upon the priorities of local and central government when the Sub-Group's 1998 work programme is agreed later in the spring.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will commission research into the factors which influence the need for and the cost of social services for the 16 to 64 years age group and incorporate the results of this research into the way SSAs are calculated. [21942]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe need for revenue expenditure on social services for people aged 18 to 64 is covered by the "Other Social Services" SSA. Changes to this formula have been proposed for 1998–99, following a review of the "Other Social Services Index". Whether any further work on this particular SSA formula is carried out this year depends upon the priorities of local and central government when the work programme of the SSA Sub-Group of the Settlement Working Group is agreed later in the spring.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will commission research into factors which determine a child's special educational needs and incorporate the results of such research into the construction of SSAs. [21943]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department of Education and Employment is currently conducting a review of the indicator of additional educational needs used in Standard Spending Assessments. The review is intended to report in time for consideration before decisions are made about 1999–2000 SSAs.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list in rank order the SSA provision for 1997–98 and 1998–99 per head of population for each county council in England and Wales and give the average county figure for each year. [21944]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe figures for shire counties are shown in the following tables. The provisional 1998–99 and settlement 1997–98 Standard Spending Assessment figures are not comparable owing to changes in local government responsibility and in local government reorganisation affecting Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Devon, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, Kent, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire in 1998. There are no equivalent Welsh county councils for funding purposes following local government reorganisation in 1996.
10W
1997–98 Standard Assessment per head of resident population for Shire counties Local authority Standard Spending Assessment (£/head) Class/rank Northumberland 664 1/35 Kent 656 2/35 Hertfordshire 641 3/35 Lancashire 633 4/35 Bedfordshire 631 5/35 Cornwall 628 6/35 Durham 626 7/35 Essex 625 8/35 Northamptonshire 621 9/35 Cumbria 620 10/35
Local authority Standard Spending Assessment (£/head) Class/rank Lincolnshire 616 11/35 Nottinghamshire 614 12/35 Shropshire 611 13/35 Devon 610 14/35 East Sussex 610 15/35 Berkshire 609 16/35 Cheshire 607 17/35 Buckinghamshire 605 18/35 North Yorkshire 603 19/35 Suffolk 592 20/35 Norfolk 592 21/35 Cambridgeshire 588 22/35 Gloucestershire 584 23/35 West Sussex 584 24/35 Staffordshire 582 25/35 Somerset 579 26/35 Derbyshire 574 27/35 Hereford and Worcester 569 28/35 Wiltshire 569 29/35 Leicestershire 566 30/35 Dorset 561 31/35 Oxfordshire 560 32/35 Warwickshire 559 33/35 Hampshire 558 34/35 Surrey 554 35/35 English Shire Counties 602 11W
1998–99 Provisional Standard Spending Assessment per head of resident population for Shire counties Local authority Standard Spending Assessment (£/head) Class/rank Northumberland 686 1/34 Kent 684 2/34 Hertfordshire 681 3/34 Lancashire 671 4/34 Bedfordshire 668 5/34 Cornwall 659 6/34 Northamptonshire 659 7/34 Cumbria 659 8/34 Durham 658 9/34 Essex 650 10/34 Lincolnshire 645 11/34 East Sussex 643 12/34 North Yorkshire 632 13/34 Buckinghamshire 631 14/34 Devon 624 15/34 Cheshire 623 16/34 Staffordshire 620 17/34 Nottinghamshire 618 18/34 Suffolk 616 19/34 Shropshire 615 20/34 Gloucestershire 613 21/34 Norfolk 613 22/34 Somerset 610 23/34 West Sussex 608 24/34 Derbyshire 605 25/34 Warwickshire 597 26/34 Leicestershire 591 27/34 Worcestershire 590 28/34 Wiltshire 590 29/34 Dorset 587 30/34 Hampshire 584 31/34 Oxfordshire 583 32/34 Surrey 580 33/34 Cambridgeshire 573 34/34 English Shire Counties 627
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library the research undertaken to demonstrate that the sparsity adjustment used in the calculation of SSAs adequately reflects the additional cost of providing education in rural areas. [21945]
§ Mr. RaynsfordI have placed in the Library a copy of a report, "Sparsity and Local Authority Costs" by Salford University Business Services. It suggests that the current allowance for sparsity in standard spending assessments is broadly correct.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will re-examine the way in which SSAs are calculated for county councils with regard to(a) education, (b) personal social services and (c) other county services. [21946]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department for Education and Employment is currently conducting a review of the indicator of additional education needs as used in the Education SSA. In addition, research into the area cost adjustment is likely to cover issues relating to the Education, Personal Social Services and county level 'All Other Services' SSAs. Whether any further work on these three elements will be done this year depends on the priorities of local central government when the work programme of the SSA Sub-Group is agreed later in the spring.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will re-examine the case for incorporating a sparsity factor into the calculation of the SSA provisions for(a) the under-fives and (b) other education. [21947]
§ Mr. RaynsfordOur proposals for 1998–99 SSAs include a revised SSA for under-5 education which includes a sparsity factor. If local authorities feel that there is a strong case for sparsity to be taken into account in the other education SSA then they should raise the issue, through the Local Government Association, in the SSA Sub-group.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will include social class as an indicator of educational attainment rates in the construction of the additional educational needs provision of SSAs. [21948]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department for Education and Employment is currently conducting a review of the indicator of additional education needs used in Standard Spending Assessments. It will examine a range of possible indicators of additional educational needs including indicators of social class. The review is intended to report in time for consideration before decisions are made about 1999–2000 SSAs.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will ensure that the additional educational needs component of SSAs reflects the number of children with statements in each local authority. [21949]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department for Education and Employment is currently conducting a review of the indicator of additional education needs used in Standard Spending Assessments. It will consider a range of possible indicators. It will also consider how the formula could12W take account of the number of children with statements. The review is intended to report in time for consideration before decisions are made about 1999–2000 SSAs.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he plans to introduce a new formula for the children's personal social service SSA; and if it will take into account the effects of population sparsity on the cost of providing social services for children in rural areas. [21950]
§ Mr. RaynsfordWhether any further work on the Children's Social Services SSA formula will be done this year depends upon the priorities of central and local government when the work of the SSA Sub-Group of the Settlement Working Group is agreed later in the spring.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if his Department will adjust the unit cost factor used in the SSA calculations to take account of the higher cost of providing domiciliary home care for elderly people in sparsely populated areas. [21951]
§ Mr. RaynsfordWhether any work will be done to consider the inclusion of a sparsity indicator within the Elderly Domiciliary SSA formula depends upon the priorities of central and local government when the work programme of the SSA Sub-Group of the Settlement Working Group is agreed later in the spring.
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the Standard Spending Assessment Sub Group will report on the use of the Social Index in the calculation of the other personal social services element of SSAs. [21952]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe SSA Sub-Group reviewed the Other Social Services Index in its 1997 round and details were given in the Sub-Group Report for 1998–99. As a result, we have proposed the replacement of the Other Social Services Index and the morbidity indicator by two new indices in the Other Social Services SSA formula for 1998–89.