§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister in respect of each local authority, how much money was distributed and is planned to be distributed through the environmental protective and cultural services standard spending assessment for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2003–04; what the total sum distributed via EPCS SSA was for each year; and if he will make a statement. [90657]
382W
§ Mr. RaynsfordA table showing the EPCS SSA for the financial years 1997–98 to 2002–03 and the provisional 2003–04 EPCS FSS by authority has been placed in the Library of the House.
The EPCS SSAs provided are not suitable for comparison purposes between years. Some of the major differences between years are as follows:
The last tranche of local government reorganisation occurred on 1 April 1998; this created a further 19 unitary authorities;In 1997–98 the "Other Interest Receipts" SSA was included in the EPCS SSA; from 1998–99 onwards the "Other Interest Receipts" SSA was included in the Capital Financing SSA;The Greater London Authority came into being in 2000. Prior to this the policing in the capital was provided by the Metropolitan Police Service, while the fire service was provided by the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority;The Metropolitan Police Authority was subject to boundary changes in 2000. Before this certain areas of Essex, Surrey and Hertfordshire were policed by the Metropolitan Police Service;The Metropolitan Police Service provided Magistrates Courts and Probationary Services as well as School Crossing Patrols, for the period 1997–98 to 1999–2000;It is proposed that the GLA will cease to receive money for its EPCS services in 2003–04; instead these will be funded via the GLA General Grant.In 2003–04 SSAs were abolished and replaced with Formula Spending Shares (FSSs). The control totals for FSSs are much larger than those for SSAs as they have been increased to around the level of spending by all authorities in England for these services.The SSA and FSS amounts are not cash. Instead they are used in the distribution of formula grant to local authorities. SSAs/FSSs are not spending targets, authorities are free to set their own budgets subject to local spending priorities.