Local Government Finance

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:32 pm on 3 February 1997.

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Photo of John Gummer John Gummer Secretary of State for Environment 3:32, 3 February 1997

I shall be happy to give way in a moment, but I must get one more paragraph in first.

During the period of consultation on our proposals, we have received representations from individual local authorities and from local authority associations, all of which we have considered carefully. Some of the representations concerned the accuracy of the data used in the calculation of the SSAs. We have examined each of the concerns, and have made corrections where necessary. As in previous years, we shall seek to discuss with representatives of local government possible ways in which the SSAs might be improved in the future.

No doubt the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras will repeat his allegations about the SSA methodology in his speech. He has never quoted any significant expert opinion supporting his case—although that comes as no surprise, given that the last time we discussed those issues, he boasted that he never felt compelled to agree with experts."—[Official Report, 1 April 1996; Vol. 275. c. 56.] Fortunately, the experts do not feel compelled to agree with the hon. Gentleman.

A report by the independent Audit Commission concluded that the SSA system was a more sophisticated system for equalising needs than any overseas system examined in this study and … an improvement on its predecessor in many respects". It will be remembered that its predecessor was the system so often lauded by the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras. Another study, by Rita Hale of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and Tony Travers of the London school of economics, found that no overseas country appears to have a full grant system which goes so far in its attempt to achieve full equalisation". If the hon. Gentleman wishes to continue his line of argument, he needs to answer two simple questions. First, if—as he alleges—the Government rig the system in favour of Westminster city council, why were the previous Labour Government more generous to Westminster, relative to most other authorities, than the present Government; and why, when Labour Members asked for the figures and they were put in the Library, did they discover that they were wrong and I was right? They do not refer to those figures any more.