To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of the last 10 years (a) the gross sum for expenditure on the personal social services in England assumed in the rate support grant settlement and (b) the actual outturn; and if he will make a statement.

The table sets out details of the provision in the rate support grant settlement and actual expenditure on the personal social services in England for the period 1981–82 to 1989–90. Comparable figures for the rate support grant provision are not readily available for earlier years. The outturn figure for 1989–90 is based on local authority budget estimates.

£ million
	Provision	Outturn
1981–82	1,551	1,616
1982–83	1,857	1,967
1983–84	2,017	2,132
1984–85	2,156	2,271
1985–86	2,328	2,361
1986–87	2,521	2,628
1987–88	2,843	2,964
1988–89	3,031	3,264
1989–90	3,336	3,603

It is of course the responsibility of each local authority to determine its own spending priorities, in the light of legislative requirements and of its own knowledge of local needs, within the overall resources available.