§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what funds he intends to make available(a) nationally, (b) to Gloucestershire County Council and (c) to Tewkesbury Borough Council to compensate for the removal of ACT credit in 1999–2000; and if he will make a statement. [66255]
§ Ms ArmstrongIn the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 1999–2000, the Government specifically took account of the best estimate of £130 million available to them and the Local Government Association to provide for the effects of the abolition of ACT on the local government pension scheme.
It is not possible to identify how much has been provided at a local level. Local authorities receive Revenue Support Grant (RSG) on the basis of their Standard Spending Assessment (SSA). SSAs are calculated using information reflecting the demographic, physical and social characteristics of each area and are intended to reflect the relative costs of providing comparable services between different authorities. RSG makes up the difference between an authority's SSA and the income it can expect to receive from both re-distributed non-domestic rates and from a standard council tax. RSG is not hypothecated to particular services or for particular purposes.