To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) type and (b) value of (i) specific and (ii) special
| Tunbridge Wells | ||||||
| £000 | ||||||
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 Budget only | |
| Emergency Planning | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Total ring-fenced specific grants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Housing benefit administration | 158 | 165 | 164 | 162 | 150 | 249 |
| Council tax benefit administration | 73 | 74 | 74 | 93 | 87 | — |
| Total unring-fenced specific grants | 231 | 239 | 238 | 255 | 237 | 249 |
| Revenue support grant | 3,242 | 2,972 | 2,872 | 2,749 | 3,103 | 2,787 |
| National non-domestic rates | 3,279 | 3,292 | 3,503 | 3,913 | 3,871 | 4,352 |
| Gross AEF | 6,752 | 6,503 | 6,613 | 6,918 | 7,211 | 7,388 |
| Percentage ring-fenced of gross AEF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent | ||||||
| £000 | ||||||
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 Budget only | |
| AIDS support | — | 140 | 50 | 127 | 115 | 105 |
| Asylum seekers | — | 4,955 | 22,974 | 49,176 | 46,522 | 34,003 |
| Building care capacity | — | — | — | — | — | 4,447 |
| Carers grant | — | — | — | — | — | 2,169 |
| Child care and early years | — | — | — | 1,405 | 3,237 | 16,041 |
| Children's services (Quality Protects) | — | — | 1,462 | 2,302 | 5,974 | 10,442 |
| Civil defence | — | 273 | — | — | — | — |
| Class size reductions | — | — | 777 | — | — | — |
| Community care special transitional grant | — | 9,045 | — | — | — | — |
| Deferred payments | — | — | — | — | — | 977 |
| Education budget support grant | — | — | — | — | 100 | — |
| Education of travellers and displaced persons | 275 | 310 | — | — | — | — |
| Emergency planning | — | — | 273 | 252 | 375 | 260 |
| Ethnic minorities achievement grant | — | 837 | 748 | — | — | — |
| Former GM schools transitional grant | — | — | — | 375 | 42 | — |
| Magistrates courts | — | 6,055 | 6,086 | 6,093 | 6,313 | 5,884 |
| Mental health | — | 1,317 | 2,306 | 2,594 | 3,136 | 3,235 |
| Nursery education grant for 4-year-olds | — | — | 5,861 | 5,964 | — | — |
| Nursery education grant for 3-year-olds | — | — | — | — | — | 11,203 |
| Other grants within AEF | — | 19 | 1,159 | 9,252 | 3,094 | 591 |
| Performance fund | — | — | — | — | — | 1,254 |
| Preserved rights | — | — | — | — | — | 30,044 |
| Probation (ordinary 80 per cent. grant) | — | 8,221 | 8,872 | 9,781 | — | — |
| Promoting independence | — | — | 7,383 | 7,451 | 9,440 | 3,958 |
| Provision for 3-year-olds | — | — | — | 475 | 5,242 | — |
| Residential allowances | — | — | — | — | — | 2,269 |
| Rural bus services | — | 1,252 | 1,230 | 1,292 | 1,644 | 1,885 |
| School budget support grant | — | — | — | 1,463 | — | — |
| Section 11 (ethnic minorities) grant | 895 | — | — | — | — | — |
grants have been provided by central government to (a) Tunbridge Wells borough council and (B) Kent county council in each year since 1997. [104694]
The tables give all the special and specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF) provided to Tunbridge Wells and Kent. The information is taken from the Reporting Officer forms returned on an annual basis by authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The entries for 1997–2002 are actual figures. These are not yet available for 2002–03 and therefore budgeted figures have been given. The definition of ring-fencing was updated last year to reflect the types of grant which now exist. Some grants previously classified as ring-fenced are not now classified in this way. The key distinction made remains that ring-fenced grants are those which restrict local authority spending. For completeness the following list includes all special grants inside Aggregate External Finance. Further details of classifications are in an annex to the freedoms and flexibilities announcement of 26 November.
Kent
| ||||||
£000
| ||||||
1997–98
| 1998–99
| 1999–2000
| 2000–01
| 2001–02
| 2002–03 Budget only
| |
| Social services training support programme | — | 643 | 514 | 689 | 791 | 673 |
| Standards fund | 5,342 | 6,264 | 13,620 | 26,207 | 31,162 | 35,137 |
| Supported employment | — | 100 | 24 | 96 | 103 | — |
| Supporting people implementation grant | — | — | — | — | — | 700 |
| Teachers' pay reform | — | — | — | 2,896 | 17,637 | 12,000 |
| Teenage pregnancy local implementation grant | — | — | — | — | — | 240 |
| Under-5s specific grant | — | 5,709 | — | — | — | — |
| Young people's substance misuse grant | — | — | — | — | — | 91 |
Total ring-fenced specific grants
| 6,512 | 45,140 | 73,339 | 127,890 | 134,927 | 177,608 |
| The private finance initiative | — | 331 | 842 | 885 | 850 | — |
Total unring-fenced grants
| 0 | 331 | 842 | 885 | 850 | 0 |
| School standards grant | — | — | — | — | 17,514 | 17,975 |
| Revenue support grant | 451,972 | 386,147 | 389,996 | 382,868 | 427,589 | 385,874 |
| National non-domestic rates | 301,690 | 268,337 | 292,938 | 332,884 | 327,578 | 359,413 |
Gross AEF
| 760,174 | 699,955 | 757,115 | 844,527 | 908,458 | 940,870 |
Percentage of gross AEF ring-fenced
| 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 19 |
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many plans were (a) Tunbridge Wells borough council and (b) Kent county council required to submit to central government in each year since 1997. [104695]
The number of plans submitted in each year to central government is set out in the following table. These figures include plans that are required from partnerships that include local authorities. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recently announced a significant reduction in the number of plans that will be required from all authorities. Authorities assessed as excellent will themselves only have to prepare two plans, neither of which will be submitted to Government except in cases, such as Kent, in which the authority did not receive a three star rating in education. For these authorities, education plans will be required until the top rating is attained. The table, therefore, includes the three different types of education related plans that are required for 2003–04. The table assumes that none of the small number of other mandatory plans produced by partnerships of which Kent is a member fall due in 2003–04.
| Year | Tunbridge Wells | Kent |
| 1997–98 | 2 | 4 |
| 1998–99 | 3 | 10 |
| 1999–2000 | 3 | 17 |
| 2000–01 | 5 | 21 |
| 2001–02 | 9 | 28 |
| 2002–03 | 7 | 31 |
| 2003–04 | 5 | 3 |