Local Government Finance

Again, I cannot give my hon. Friend the specific assurance that he seeks. However, the Government make specific grants available alongside the mainstream settlement. As a member of the Treasury Committee, he knows better than anyone that it is important to improve matters, not only for the funding decisions that Ministers—not just me but those in other Departments—make, but because we must have better population data on which to base the 2011 census if we want to avoid some of the worries and weaknesses of the 2001 census.