15 February 2002
The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions has indicated that the replacement for the Standard Spending Assessment – the withdrawal of which was announced in December's white paper – might not represent the radical change many councils are expecting.
Government sources have also hinted that extra money in the form of greatly increased Treasury grant is almost certainly out of the question for most councils under the new system, which is due to be revealed in spring.
Members of Tacfig, the all-party Town and Country Finance Issues Group, called upon the DTLR to 'give genuine consideration' to problems specific to Middle England when implementing the white paper.
Tacfig claimed that its members are unfairly treated under the current finance system – particularly when the DTLR calculates funding according to area cost adjustments and deprivation indexes. But they fear that few councils will be better off, and some will be worse off under the revised SSAs.
The group's Liberal Democrat leader, David Bill, said he was 'worried by the DTLR's intimation that there will continue to be the same number of winners and losers under the new system and that the department was in the business of managing [council] expectations.
'That's quite frightening when you consider that district councils have lost out so regularly in the past,' he added.
But both Bill and Sue Campany, Tacfig's Tory leader, said they were encouraged by the suggestion that Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers was likely to acknowledge 'the distinction between the cost of a council doing business and being in business'.
The lack of distinction has caused Tacfig members financial difficulties, said Campany. 'But the DTLR must find a way of separating that element of funding from the revenue support grant because there are some Tacfig members who would receive no payment at all should such a change be implemented.'
David Taylor, Labour MP for North-West Leicestershire, said he was also encouraged by the ongoing dialogue over the possible extension of Public Service Agreements to district councils. But he said that the DTLR 'must not simply rely on the goodwill of county councils to provide PSAs alongside district councils'.
Taylor also called on the DTLR to ensure that its replacement for the SSA was easy for voters to understand. 'There is always a trade-off between transparency and complexity, but we must push for a fairer system that is easier to understand,' he said.
PFfeb2002
