§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what provision he will make to fire authorities spending above their SSAs when he revises the SSA formula for fire; and if he will make a statement. [73940]
§ Mr. Christopher LeslieStatutory responsibility for the provision of fire services rests locally with the fire authority.
We invited comments on options for changes to the formulae for the distribution of revenue support grant for local authority services, including fire, in a consultation period which ran from 8 July to 30 September. Our proposals will be announced in the provisional local government finance settlement later this year.
The total provision for revenue funding for fire and other local authority services is considered in the spending reviews. Under Spending Review 2002, announced in July, the fire service share of Total Standard Spending in England will be increased by £61.6 million (4 per cent.) for 2003–04 and by increases of £70 million (4.4 per cent.) and £50 million (2.9 per cent.) in the following two years.