HC Deb 25 March 2003 vol 402 cc183-5W
Mr. Norman

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what(a) type and (b) value of (i) specific and (ii) special

Tunbridge Wells
£000
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 Budget only
Emergency Planning 1
Total ring-fenced specific grants 0 0 0 1 0 0
Housing benefit administration 158 165 164 162 150 249
Council tax benefit administration 73 74 74 93 87
Total unring-fenced specific grants 231 239 238 255 237 249
Revenue support grant 3,242 2,972 2,872 2,749 3,103 2,787
National non-domestic rates 3,279 3,292 3,503 3,913 3,871 4,352
Gross AEF 6,752 6,503 6,613 6,918 7,211 7,388
Percentage ring-fenced of gross AEF 0 0 0 0.01 0 0

Kent
£000
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 Budget only
AIDS support 140 50 127 115 105
Asylum seekers 4,955 22,974 49,176 46,522 34,003
Building care capacity 4,447
Carers grant 2,169
Child care and early years 1,405 3,237 16,041
Children's services (Quality Protects) 1,462 2,302 5,974 10,442
Civil defence 273
Class size reductions 777
Community care special transitional grant 9,045
Deferred payments 977
Education budget support grant 100
Education of travellers and displaced persons 275 310
Emergency planning 273 252 375 260
Ethnic minorities achievement grant 837 748
Former GM schools transitional grant 375 42
Magistrates courts 6,055 6,086 6,093 6,313 5,884
Mental health 1,317 2,306 2,594 3,136 3,235
Nursery education grant for 4-year-olds 5,861 5,964
Nursery education grant for 3-year-olds 11,203
Other grants within AEF 19 1,159 9,252 3,094 591
Performance fund 1,254
Preserved rights 30,044
Probation (ordinary 80 per cent. grant) 8,221 8,872 9,781
Promoting independence 7,383 7,451 9,440 3,958
Provision for 3-year-olds 475 5,242
Residential allowances 2,269
Rural bus services 1,252 1,230 1,292 1,644 1,885
School budget support grant 1,463
Section 11 (ethnic minorities) grant 895

grants have been provided by central government to (a) Tunbridge Wells borough council and (B) Kent county council in each year since 1997. [104694]

Mr. Raynsford

The tables give all the special and specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF) provided to Tunbridge Wells and Kent. The information is taken from the Reporting Officer forms returned on an annual basis by authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The entries for 1997–2002 are actual figures. These are not yet available for 2002–03 and therefore budgeted figures have been given. The definition of ring-fencing was updated last year to reflect the types of grant which now exist. Some grants previously classified as ring-fenced are not now classified in this way. The key distinction made remains that ring-fenced grants are those which restrict local authority spending. For completeness the following list includes all special grants inside Aggregate External Finance. Further details of classifications are in an annex to the freedoms and flexibilities announcement of 26 November.

Kent
£000
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 Budget only
Social services training support programme 643 514 689 791 673
Standards fund 5,342 6,264 13,620 26,207 31,162 35,137
Supported employment 100 24 96 103
Supporting people implementation grant 700
Teachers' pay reform 2,896 17,637 12,000
Teenage pregnancy local implementation grant 240
Under-5s specific grant 5,709
Young people's substance misuse grant 91
Total ring-fenced specific grants 6,512 45,140 73,339 127,890 134,927 177,608
The private finance initiative 331 842 885 850
Total unring-fenced grants 0 331 842 885 850 0
School standards grant 17,514 17,975
Revenue support grant 451,972 386,147 389,996 382,868 427,589 385,874
National non-domestic rates 301,690 268,337 292,938 332,884 327,578 359,413
Gross AEF 760,174 699,955 757,115 844,527 908,458 940,870
Percentage of gross AEF ring-fenced 1 6 10 15 15 19

Mr. Norman

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many plans were(a) Tunbridge Wells borough council and (b) Kent county council required to submit to central government in each year since 1997. [104695]

Mr. Leslie

The number of plans submitted in each year to central government is set out in the following table. These figures include plans that are required from partnerships that include local authorities. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recently announced a significant reduction in the number of plans that will be required from all authorities. Authorities assessed as excellent will themselves only have to prepare two plans, neither of which will be submitted to Government except in cases, such as Kent, in which the authority did not receive a three star rating in education. For these authorities, education plans will be required until the top rating is attained. The table, therefore, includes the three different types of education related plans that are required for 2003–04. The table assumes that none of the small number of other mandatory plans produced by partnerships of which Kent is a member fall due in 2003–04.

Year Tunbridge Wells Kent
1997–98 2 4
1998–99 3 10
1999–2000 3 17
2000–01 5 21
2001–02 9 28
2002–03 7 31
2003–04 5 3

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