Deputy Prime Minister written question – answered at on 19 December 2002.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister
(1) in the local government finance proposed settlement for 2003–04, for what reason Worcestershire is combined with Herefordshire in the assessment of area cost adjustment;
(2) under the proposed local government finance settlement for 2003–04 on what basis he calculated that Dudley receive area cost adjustment.
The area cost adjustment has been calculated on pre-1995 county boundaries and pre-1986 metropolitan county boundaries (though counties bordering London are divided into fringe and non-fringe areas). This means that all unitary authorities (including Herefordshire) and all metropolitan districts (including Dudley) receive the same area cost adjustment as the county or metropolitan county of which they were formerly a part. Not only does this help to reduce complexity, but it ensures that the area cost adjustment calculations are robust and stable from year to year. This is because New Earnings Survey sample sizes for individual unitary and metropolitan district authorities are relatively small.
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