§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister which census figures will be used for the 2004–05 formula funding share. [129852]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to use mid-2002 population estimates for the 2004–05 Local Government Settlement.
The formulae used to distribute grant to local authorities in England make use of various sets of data from the Census, apart from the population estimates that are updated each year. Officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have been discussing with local authority representatives the use of 2001 Census data other than population in the 2004–05 Settlement. Unfortunately, the late availability of some of the 2001 Census data has limited the options for using it in this years settlement. Therefore the 1991 Census data will be used for the 2004–05 Settlement.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is announcing this now in order to remove any uncertainty felt by local authorities regarding the data that will be used for the settlement.
Officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will continue to discuss with local authority representatives the use of the 2001 Census data in future Local Government Finance settlements.
§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the budgetary impact on social services in the London boroughs named in the Laming Inquiry if the 1991 census figures are used to calculate the 2004–05 formula funding share. [129853]
§ Mr. RaynsfordNone. The 1991 census data were used to calculate the 2003–04 formula spending shares. Continuing to use these to calculate the 2004–05 formula spending shares should therefore have little impact on any authority's grant allocation relative to 2003–04. The level at which a local authority sets its budget is a matter for that authority, depending on its local priorities.