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Local Government Funding (Poole)

That was a helpful and interesting intervention. The hon. Lady’s party generally talks about council tax and taxation in terms of the redistributive effect. Looking at the deprivation index and people’s ability to pay would deal with the points that her party normally makes. She is right to talk about the need to make a technical case. Of course, any information presented to the Government on a council’s behalf is always taken into account. Indeed, the hon. Gentleman made representations to the Minister for Local Government on this very issue before the announcement, and my hon. Friend has responded to him. So the case was made beforehand, but any case that the council wishes to make to the Government will of course be considered in the usual way; we are happy to do that. The hon. Gentleman is a consistent campaigner for his area and he has put his case as well as he could, but we are not persuaded by it. He is arguing for a complete change in the formula, which has been used for many years. Sir Michael Lyons will be reporting on the best way forward in paying for local services, and the hon. Gentleman might wish to have an input when that report is published. We believe that we have provided a good settlement overall. I was astounded to hear the hon. Lady say that the Minister will not want to give local councils more money. This Government have provided local authorities with a 39 per cent. increase in real terms since 1997. We believe that this is a fair settlement for local government that offers protection from the grant floor. However, it is up to local councils to set reasonable budgets and acceptable council tax levels, and to deliver good quality services to their residents. I thank the hon. Gentleman for the way in which he put his case. We will consider his comments and I will write to him about the specific points that he raised. Question put and agreed to.