Local Government Finance: Swindon

Mr. Wills
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much was provided in grants from central Government to Swindon borough council in 2006-07;

(2) how much she expects to be provided in grants from central Government to Swindon borough council in 2007-08.

Mr. Woolas
The amount of Government grant Swindon borough council budgeted to receive in 2006-07 and is budgeting to receive in 2007-08 is tabled as follows.

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|                                                                                                                                    |Revenue support grant|Redistributed non-domestic rates|Specific and special grants inside aggregate external finance|
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|2006-071                                                                                                                            |7,190                |37,248                          |134,276                                                      |
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|2007-082                                                                                                                            |6,526                |38,885                          |n/a                                                          |
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|Sources:1 Communities and Local Government Revenue Account Budget Return2 Communities and Local Government Budget Requirement Return|                     |                                |                                                             |
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Budget estimates for specific and special grants inside aggregate external finance in 2007-08 are not yet available.

Figures exclude grants outside aggregate external finance (i.e. where funding is not for the authority’s core services, but is passed to a third party; for example, as in the case of mandatory student awards), capital grants, funding for the local authority’s housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where the authority is simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.