RK/SJA/Cons//WCC

19 January 2006

The Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Minister for Communities and Local Government
Office of Deputy Prime Minister
26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2WH

Dear Minister.

Wiltshire County Council – Provisional Grant Settlement 2006-07

This years settlement has come as a grave disappointment to my constituents. In the current financial year we thought that the Government had finally recognised the higher costs which Wiltshire County Council faced as a consequence of being a rural county and the proximity to high wage areas to the east. However, Wiltshire County Council now stands to receive just 2.1% for non-schools services, one of the lowest increases in grant in any county.

This represents an increase of £1.2 million in grant to support a budget of approximately £221 million. Indeed, after adjusting for specific grants which have been transferred to the general grant, the calculation is that the real change from this year to next will be a cash reduction of approximately £2 million. Meanwhile Wiltshire County Council is experiencing large cost shunts from the NHS in the county.

Please can you explain why Wiltshire County Council in the current year is at the “ceiling” level of funding and therefore lost grant aid, yet in the forthcoming year has been placed at the “floor” level of funding and in need of protection?

Please can you explain why, when adjustments to specific grants have been taken into account, the level of funding received actually decreased by approximately £2 million?

Are you aware of the impact that cost shunting from Primary Care Trusts is having on the social care budget within Wiltshire County Council?

Yours sincerely