§ Mr. Greg KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will change the method of calculation of the size of elderly population used in arriving at the standard spending assessment for local authorities. [6050]
§ Dr. WhiteheadTogether with local government we are reviewing the grant distribution system. We published "Modernising Local Government Finance: A Green Paper" in September 2000, and will announce our conclusions on the most promising ways forward in a White Paper later this year. Alongside this, we are currently working on a range of options for changes to the standard spending assessment formulae, but have not yet reached any conclusions on what changes should be made.
§ Mr. Greg KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the method of calculating the size of elderly population in connection with the standard spending assessment, with special reference to resort authorities. [6051]
§ Dr. WhiteheadEstimates of the size of the elderly population for each local authority are made by the Registrar General. They are based on the 1991 Census, and rolled forward to more recent years to reflect births, deaths and migration.
The standard spending assessment formula for elderly residential care is based on the elderly population in households rather than the total elderly population (which includes those in institutions). The population estimates are therefore adjusted to reflect this. This is done by assuming that the proportion of the total elderly population that is in households for each authority is the same as that recorded in the 1991 Census.
The size of the elderly population is thus calculated in the same way for all authorities, including resort authorities.