Funding for Local Authorities

Debate between Peter Bottomley and Neil Parish

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Neil Parish]

The hon. Gentleman is right, because what the Government seem to have done—dare I be so blunt as to say it—is to ensure that those that least need it get the most money, by which I mean the south-east of England. Coming from the west country, I would of course say that. Many of my colleagues from the south-east probably do not necessarily agree with me.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

rose—

[Neil Parish]

It looks as though we have already drawn blood.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Peter Bottomley]

It is not a question of drawing blood. I hope that at some stage someone will say how much support there is for the elderly on the south coast—say, in the Worthing district—compared with support for the elderly in the north-east or the south-west.

[Neil Parish]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, because I believe that will need to be recognised not only in local government funding but in health service funding. In my constituency the town of Axminster has a population profile that matches the one forecast for the country in 2035, meaning that there is a much more elderly population. In Seaton and Sidmouth and along that coastline, there is an increasingly elderly population.