§ Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to bring up to the national average the standard spending assessment for the over 65s in Devon for the financial year 2002–03. [27308]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe announced the provisional 2002–03 local government finance settlement for consultation on 4 December 2001. It does not include any proposals to change the current standard spending assessment methodology for elderly social services. However, we have also announced that 2002–03 will be the last year to use this system. We intend to introduce a fairer, more intelligible formula-based approach for use in 2003–04.
We are actively involving local government in our review of the system, and we will be consulting widely before taking final decisions on the best way forward.