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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mr. Beith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will (a) list and (b) quantify those factors in the local government finance formula which determined the increase proposed for (i) Berwick-on-Tweed Borough and (ii) Teesdale District. [93263] Mr. Raynsford: Berwick-on-Tweed received an increase of 5.6 per cent. in Formula Spending Share (FSS) in the provisional settlement compared to 2002-03, to £135 per head. For Teesdale, these figures were 15.6 per cent. and £136 respectively. After their ability to raise council tax is taken into account, this gives grant increases for Berwick of 3 per cent. (the floor) and Teesdale 12.5 per cent. (the ceiling). Many indicators have been removed, replaced, or updated in the EPCS Formula Review, and it is difficult to quantify every impact of the formula changes on each district. Teesdale gains significantly and Berwick loses from the formula no longer taking account of overnight visitors. Both districts lose FSS from the removal of the old housing deprivation indictors (less so for Teesdale) and the lower sparsity weighting. Teesdale gains from the lower weighting for numbers on income support, but loses slightly due to an estimated population decline after the 2001 Census.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

93263; 398 c1025W;398 c1019W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Increases Grants Local government finance Berwick-upon-Tweed Teesdale

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk