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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Ross Cranston: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on local authority street cleaning costs; what representations his Department has received on the subject; and whether new money will be provided to meet additional costs for local street cleaning services resulting from the implementation of the Act. [210687] Mr. Raynsford: In response to concerns raised by a number of local authorities, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister undertook an assessment of the potential knock on effects of the then Licensing Bill, including additional street cleansing costs, in 2003. Despite consulting 18 local authorities, the Local Government Association and the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, it proved impossible to produce robust evidence of any additional street cleansing costs. The available evidence was inconclusive on whether there would be an overall cost to local government. We continue to examine and monitor the situation. During the recent discussions about the 2005-06 Local Government Finance Settlement, of the 233 representations received from local authorities, 21 made some reference to the impact of the Licensing Act. Representations about the costs to local authorities of the Licensing Act were also made during the Department of Media Culture and Sports consultation on licensing fees. Funding for street cleaning is provided through the local government finance settlement. Total support from Government grant and business rates in 2005-06 will be £60.1 billion. That is £3.5 billion, or 6.3 per cent., more than in 2004-05. We believe that this substantial investment in local government and the scope for efficiency gains addresses the pressures faced by local government. There is no excuse for excessive increases in council tax.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

210687; 430 c464W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Costs Licensed premises Local government finance Litter Street cleaning

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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