§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he will take to lift the ceiling on local authority funding in order to allow more resources to be directed towards the police. [94868]
§ Mr. RaynsfordLocal authorities are split into three groups for the purposes of the floor and ceiling calculations. These are:
- authorities with responsibility for education and social services;
- shire district councils; and
- police and metropolitan fire authorities, including the Greater London Authority.
The total amount of grant for each of these groups is unaltered by the application of floors and ceilings. Therefore, lifting the ceiling would not direct more resources to this group. In order to pay for the increased level of the ceiling, either the level of the floor would need to be lowered, or the authorities between the floor and the ceiling would need to contribute more money to help pay for the floor via the scaling factor. The Office 1076W of the Deputy Prime Minister believes that it has set the level of floors and ceilings at an appropriate level to ensure a reasonable increase in grant for all authorities.