Local Government Finance Bill

I do not think that is correct. We will debate that with the next group of amendments, but I will make a little progress now. The point of a national scheme is that risk is spread. If we move to a localised scheme, we must have some way of dealing with risk, but there is no way of doing that in this scheme. The Government cannot seriously argue that the closure of a major employer, for example, is a council's responsibility. I know that, according to the Government's ““not me, guv”” approach, nothing is their responsibility, but even they must accept that they are responsible for the national economy, not Warrington borough council, Nottingham, Carlisle or anywhere else. If a major employer closes, the local authority must have some way of dealing with it. Our new clause would ensure that the Government's power to pay a grant is used to meet any shortfall if a scheme costs more in benefit than the Government had originally agreed to pay to a local authority. Ministers ought not to be too concerned about this, because after all they have to approve the schemes, and they are not being asked to make an open-ended commitment. They approve the scheme and how it works, but a cash-limited budget cannot cope with sudden surges in demand. In fact, the Government admit that in their own impact assessment, which states:"““If demographic changes or economic circumstances mean that eligibility for council tax support increases significantly then the consequence of switching””—" from annually managed expenditure to departmental expenditure limits—"““will be that authorities bear more of the risk of a shortfall in funds.””" The risk of a shortfall or serious economic turbulence destabilising a local authority's finances and, what is more, the poorest people in the area having to pay the price is not something that any Opposition Member, or I suspect a few Government Members, can accept. We have tabled new clause 11 because we believe that it would deal with the problem, and it might be helpful if I let you know, Mr Crausby, that we will seek to divide the Committee on that when the time comes.