§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many local authority social service departments have applied to his Department for financial support in the current financial year. [21791]
§ Dr. WhiteheadLocal authorities will have applied for the various types of financial support run by this Department. Records of these applications are not kept centrally. The Department has received a number of representations about the pressures on local authorities' social service budgets. The Government announced an additional £300 million to cover 2001–02 and 2002–03 to assist councils in building care capacity. We have also recently announced our proposals for the funding of local government revenue expenditure in 2002–03. Provision for spending on Personal Social Services is set to increase by £684 million next year or 6.5 per cent.