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Local Government Funding (Poole)

The hon. Lady makes some good points. The capital projects have helped Poole, but they are relatively small compared with those in some authorities. When compared with household income, house prices are very high in Poole: the ratio is 5.44:1. That places Poole in the top 10 per cent. of the most costly places to live, based on households aged 20 to 39, among 407 other local authorities. Our house prices are probably more aligned with those in the south-east of England, but our wages are more aligned with those in the south-west, which creates a problem. Overall unemployment is low at 3.4 per cent., and that impacts on the inability to recruit locally. In addition, recruitment to low-wage jobs is made more difficult when house prices in the area are so high. The average selling price for a house in Poole in the fourth quarter of 2006 was £266,368. The difficulties of recruitment are compounded by the loss of 20 to 29-year-olds within the population in recent years. It is terribly difficult for young people to get on the housing ladder in Poole. The cost of adult care in Poole is also significantly above the unitary authority average. In 2005-06, the average gross weekly cost of intensive care for adults and older people in Poole was £567 compared with the unitary authority average of £501. The average cost of residential and nursing care for older people in Poole was £528, compared with the unitary authority average of £416. Currently, 21 per cent. of the population is over the age of 65. A number of things have happened recently that have increased difficulties. An example is the concessionary fares scheme for the over-60s and those with disabilities, although many people welcomed it. Poole has a population of 137,000 and 36,000 residents over 60, and received £800,000 towards a total budget of £1.4 million to reimburse the bus operators. Torbay, which has a population of 132,000 and 34,000 residents over 60, received £1.254 million, significantly more than Poole. Surprise surprise, the scheme in Poole is showing an overspend of £440,000. That is another burden that will fall on council tax payers. There are many more things I could say, but time is limited. We suffer from a formula that disadvantages us and does not take account of the pockets of deprivation in Poole. My constituency is very mixed, and the circumstances of people living a mile apart may be very different. There is a strong feeling among members of all parties and no party in Poole that we are being unfairly treated. The campaign for fair funding for Poole is gathering thousands of signatures in the shopping centres. On most Saturdays both Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors are out gathering the signatures, which will be presented at a future date. People feel very upset about the way in which the grant is being distributed. There is a more important point, however. We might accept our place in the lower half of the table given our position in relation to areas that are rather more deprived, but the gap is widening at a great rate. A great deal of what happens in local government results from national pay agreements. It costs just as much to empty a bin or to employ a teacher in Poole as anywhere else, but it is difficult to provide the same level of service when we do not receive the same level of funding of education, for instance, as many other parts of the United Kingdom. I am not saying that our outcomes are poor. Dorset is very good at delivering good local government outcomes, but it is much harder to do that with a poor funding formula. I am glad that the Minister has been present at least to listen to what I said and to what was said by the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole. Perhaps she will reflect on the fact that people feel they are being treated unfairly. There ought to be more transparency in the system, so that those people can see more clearly why they are in their present position. Recent grant changes have probably made it rather more difficult to delve into the formula and argue about the methodology. Sometimes people look at the figures and do not quite understand them. I hope that if I do not receive answers from the Minister today, we may be able to exchange correspondence to generate at least a better understanding of our relative positions. I also hope that we can have another debate in the future about why Poole should be treated more fairly so that it can continue to deliver first-class local services.