§ Lord Smith of Leighasked Her Majesty's Government:
In how many local authorities there is significant underspending on social services. [HL1394]
§ Lord Evans of Temple GuitingThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister no longer takes the view that the grant distribution formulae for social services can represent Government's view on what councils need to spend. The new formulae aim to reflect the relative costs of service provision and are part of the means by which we allocate a fixed total of general grant. The level of spending on social services by individual local authorities is for them to decide in consultation with their council tax payers.