HC Deb 10 December 2003 vol 415 cc477-8W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will amend the financial model used by the Boundary Committee in assessing the costs of reorganising local government in the three northern regions to include (a) transitional, (b) opportunity and (c) ongoing costs of change. [142222]

Mr. Raynsford

No. The model used by the Boundary Committee looks at the "cost of being in business"—that is, the recurring costs that an authority must incur regardless of the level of service that it provides. Other costs and savings that will result from re-organisation are heavily dependent on the policy decisions of the elected representatives of individual councils and cannot, therefore, be used for modelling purposes without making assumptions about the decisions that will be taken by authorities that have yet to be created. The cost of being in business, being less dependent on such assumptions, provides a sounder basis on which to make comparisons.

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to collect centrally the costs of any reorganisation of local government; and if he will make a statement. [142225]

Mr. Raynsford

It is too early to say what the cost of and potential long-term savings from reorganisation might be. It will depend ultimately on the pattern of unitary authorities introduced following referendums and on decisions that the new unitary authorities take about their organisational structure. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will discuss how any costs will be funded with local authorities and the Local Government Association nearer the time.