To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the average Standard Spending Assessment was per head of population in (a) England, (b) the South West, (c) Dorset and (d) Poole in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [126442]

Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) were replaced by Formula Spending Shares (FSSs) in 2003–04. These are not directly comparable since the total amount of FSS was much larger than the total for SSA would have been as a result of increasing the Resource Equalisation.The population data used for 2003–04 (the mid-2001 population estimates) was based on the 2001 Census; the population data for the other years was based on the 1991 Census. These data are therefore also not directly comparable.The following table provides SSA per head for the period 1997–98 and FSS per head for 2003–04 as requested.

	England	South West	Dorset	Poole
1997–98	829.45	736.59	560.95	653.65
1998–99	869.19	768.63	585.49	681.09
1999–2000	907.66	803.66	615.17	711.94
2000–01	943.33	836.69	645.79	735.73
2001–02	980.69	866.93	670.32	764.00
2002–03	995.30	876.47	665.64	759.72
2003–04	1,177.45	1,045.84	778.36	903.15

The figures are not comparable year-on-year as the services funded through SSA and FSS have changed over this period.The figures for England and the South West also include police services. Police services are provided by Dorset police in the Dorset and Poole area and are not therefore included in the Dorset and Poole figures.