Local Authority Funding

Mr. Coleman
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellors Department what specific or direct grants have been made by her Department to local authorities for 2003–04 (a) in England and (b) broken down by local authority, identifying whether the grant  is (i) ring fenced, (ii) a specific formula grant, (iii) within aggregate external finance and (iv) outside aggregate external finance. [114916]

Yvette Cooper
My Department provides separate grants for revenue and capital (buildings and IT) to local authorities to meet 80 per cent. of Magistrates courts costs. The remainder is met by the local authorities.Revenue grant is ringfenced within aggregate external finance. The capital grants are ringfenced but outside aggregate external finance.The total 2003–04 grants (at the 80 per cent. level) to be made available for Magistrates courts in England are:
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|           |
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|Revenue    |
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|Building   |
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|IT         |
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|Total grant|
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A breakdown of total payments to be made during 2003–04 cannot be provided as grants may be subject to change, and are paid on a quarterly basis throughout the year. Magistrates courts are organised into 42 Committees and a lead paying authority acts on behalf of the various authorities covered by each Committee. Grant payments are made to this lead authority as detailed in the following table.This shows current total 2003–04 revenue grant allocation figures. A precise breakdown of capital figures is not yet available because the process of allocating them is underway.
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|Lead Authority        |
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|Somerset              |
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|Bedfordshire          |
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|Buckinghamshire       |
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|Cambridgeshire        |
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|Cheshire              |
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|Cleveland             |
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|Cornwall              |
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|Cumbria               |
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|Derbyshire            |
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|Dorset                |
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|Durham                |
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|East Sussex           |
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|Essex                 |
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|Gloucestershire       |
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|Hampshire             |
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|Hereford and Worcester|
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|Hertfordshire         |
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|Humberside            |
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|Kent                  |
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|Lancashire            |
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|Leicestershire        |
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|Lincolnshire          |
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|Norfolk               |
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|North Yorkshire       |
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|Northamptonshire      |
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|Newcastle Upon Tyne   |
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|Nottinghamshire       |
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|Staffordshire         |
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|Suffolk               |
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|Lead Authority|
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|Surrey        |
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|Warwickshire  |
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|Wiltshire     |
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|Bolton        |
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|Sefton        |
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|Barnsley      |
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|Birmingham    |
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|Leeds         |
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|GLMCA         |
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|Total         |
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