To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, columns 667-68W, on local authorities: grants, what the grant per capita was in real terms to each local authority in England in (a) 1998-99, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07; and what the average grant per capita in (i) district councils, (ii) unitary councils, (iii) county councils, (iv) metropolitan councils and (v) London boroughs was in each of those years. (180198)

I have deposited in the Library of the House a table showing the information on central Government grant per capita in real terms (at 2006-07 prices) for each local authority in 1998-99, 2005-06 and 2006-07.

The average central Government grant per capita in real terms (at 2006-07 prices) by class of authority in 1998-99, 2005-06 and 2006-07 is tabled as follows.

Central Government grant is defined here as the sum of formula grant (Revenue support grant, police grant, general GLA grant and redistributed non-domestic rates) and specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF), i.e. revenue grants paid for council’s core services. In 1998-99, it also includes the SSA reduction grant but excludes the general GLA grant.

Figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities’ core services, but is passed to a third party, for example, rent allowances and rebates), capital grants, funding for the local authorities’ housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.

Per capita figures for 1998-99, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are based on Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) 1998, 2005 and 2006 mid-year population estimates. The real terms figures have been revalued for 1998-99 and 2005-06 years at 2006-07 prices using the latest HM Treasury’s GDP deflators.

Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.