Local Government: Finance Settlement

Lord Tope Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, the distribution has been carried out, as it always is, against a formula which makes sure that there is fairness of distribution across the piece. As the noble Lord has just suggested, the highest loss of spending power is 8% and the lowest is much less than that. The department has taken a great deal of care to try to ensure that funds are well distributed across the country. Noble Lords will know that what we are dealing with here is, again, one of the difficulties of having a deficit left by the previous Government.

[Lord Tope]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is at least as fair to look not only at the amount of funding the Government give each local authority but at the amount of funding each household gives to its local council? For instance, is she aware that in Liverpool the average annual council tax payment per dwelling is £961, whereas in Surrey it is £1,667, perhaps reflecting levels of deprivation? Is that fair?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, all I can say is that this is being done against the background of a formula which is pretty well understood. The average household spending power across the country is £2,000. The settlement is as fair as it can be in the financial circumstances.