To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the existing emergency planning grant aid from his Department for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 to enable the recipient authorities to discharge fully the duties imposed on them by proposals currently being considered by his Department;(2) what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the proposed distribution of his Department's emergency planning grant aid for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 to enable the shortcomings in emergency arrangements outlined in his predecessor's statement of 10 July 1991,

My right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that the proposed allocations of grant aid will be sufficient once many of the new obsolete civil defence duties are removed from local authorities by draft Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations to be laid before Parliament.The Home Office proposals involve a small shift in the balance of resources to metropolitan areas and for grant to be paid to metropolitan districts and boroughs for the first time. These measures are intended to assist metropolitan authorities in overcoming the problems in some areas referred to by the then Home Secretary in his statement of 10 July 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by county council and civil defence authority area the proposed distribution of his Department's civil defence and emergency planning grant aid for each of the three years 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96.

The proposed distribution of grant to each authority in the three years 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 is as follows.