Local Government Finance

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Whether the real cost of providing services is being recognised is an issue, and the best example of that was mentioned by my hon. Friends the Members for Cambridge and for Teignbridge (Richard Younger-Ross): concessionary bus fares. That is a new responsibility, and local authorities are concerned that the real cost simply has not been met. My hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge was trying to make the point that the responsible authority must pay for the outward journey. There is a lot of commuting into Cambridge, and it is paid for by the authorities outside Cambridge, but the return journeys are paid for by Cambridge city council. Clearly, that will have a massive impact on its costs. Can the Minister tell me whether the Government have assessed the true cost of the scheme, as well as the cost of extending it? If they judge that there will be a shortfall, will they meet it?