HC Deb 16 December 2003 vol 415 cc856-8W
Mr. Tyrie

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will give the value of the local education authority grant floor and publish his calculations and the assumptions he has made in order to reach that figure; [143864]

(2) if he will publish his calculations and the assumptions he has made in order to reach the new levels he has set for grant floors and ceilings. [143868]

Mr. Raynsford

The following table shows the floor, the ceiling and the scaling factor applied to grant increases above the floor which we are proposing for 2004–05 for each local authority group.

below the floor is shared equitably between those authorities with grant increases above the floor.

The grant floor, the grant ceiling and the scaling factor applied to increases above the floor are inter-related. So for any group of authorities decisions on the floor, the scaling factor and the ceiling have to be taken together. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has published on the departmental website models which allow interested parties to explore the effect of other floor and ceiling values (http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/0405/fandc/index.htm).

Mr. Tyrie

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the amount of specific grant per head from the Local Government Finance Settlement of 2003–04 was for(a) West Sussex and (b) Hartlepool; and if he will give the amount of extra total grant that would be payable if West Sussex were to be funded at the same level of specific grant per head as Hartlepool. [143869]

Mr. Raynsford

The specific grant per head in West Sussex and Hartlepool is tabled as follows. The variations in funding per head reflect a number of factors including the level of relative deprivation in each local authority and the take up of grants, for example the number of local authority funded nursery education places. Distributing simply on the basis of population would not reflect the different needs of different areas.

Specific grants1 (£) Population2 Specific grants per head (£/head)
West Sussex 68,200,000 754,253 90.42
Hartlepool 22,777,000 88,711 256.76
1 This information is taken from local authority budget RA returns.
2 The population is taken from the Office for National Statistics 2001 mid year population estimates.

Note:

If West Sussex received specific grant support at the same level per head as Hartlepool then they would receive £125,458,290 extra.

Mr. Tyrie

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will give the amount of formula grant per head from the Local Government Finance Settlement of 2003–04 for(a) West Sussex, (b) inner London boroughs, (c) outer London boroughs and (d) the English average; and if he will give the amount of extra total grant that would be payable if West Sussex were to be funded at the same level of formula grant per head as (i) inner London boroughs, (ii) outer London boroughs and (iii) the English average. [143870]

Mr. Raynsford

Formula grant per head in 2003–04 is given in the following table:

Area Formula grant per head (£)
West Sussex county council 503.33
Inner London boroughs 1,166.30
(including City of London)
Outer London boroughs 809.90
England 892.49

The formula grant per head figures in the table are not directly comparable since the services provided by West Sussex county council are not the same as those provided by London boroughs. London boroughs also provide those services provided by the district council within the West Sussex area; while West Sussex county council received an allocation of grant to cover fire services in 2003–04, that are provided by the Greater London Authority in the London area. In addition the City of London also provides police services. The total England figure includes both district level and police services; neither of these services are provided by West Sussex county council.

The calculation of formula grant takes account of a range of factors other than the numbers of recipients. It includes top-ups for deprivation, pay costs, and other factors such as population sparsity that drive the costs of service delivery in different areas, as well as the relative ability of councils to raise council tax in their areas. Simple per capita comparisons will not therefore be meaningful comparisons of all the factors that drive grant distribution.

If West Sussex county council received £1,166.30 per head of formula grant then it would have received £879,685,274, an additional £500,043,641; at £809.90 per head of formula grant then it would have received £610,869,505, an additional £231,227,872; and at £892.49 then it would have received £673,163,260, an additional £293,521,627.