To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions by how much local authority spending increases for each 1 per cent. rise in the GDP deflator. [16870]

There is no automatic link between inflation in the economy generally, as measured by any rise in the GDP deflator, and local authority spending. The impact would depend on the rate of increase in prices for the particular services and goods purchased by authorities, and on authorities' budgetary reactions to these pressures.