asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what, for each relevant authority, is the cost of provision of social services (a) per inhabitant and (b) per ratepayer.

Information is not collected in the Department in the form requested, but most of it can be obtained from two publications in the statistical information service series of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, namely, "Personal Social Services Statistics " and " Financial General and Rating Statistics " copies of which are in the House of Commons Library.