Local Government Finance

I welcome my hon. Friend's comments. He is a former local government finance chief, he chairs the group of SIGOMA—Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities within the Local Government Association—MPs, and I know how closely he follows these matters. He is absolutely right to say that there is not a north-south divide. It is clear from the figures for this settlement and the total grant that there are bigger variations within regions than there are between regions. He might be interested to know that the increases in formula grant for Wigan are set to be 5.7 per cent., 3.7 per cent. and 3.1 per cent. If Wigan, like other local councils, achieves the efficiency savings that we expect, next year alone it will have an extra £7 million with which either to improve services or to keep council tax pressures under control; I have already stressed that point.