The Scottish Client Group Approach: Indicators of Need or Discretionary Variations in Expenditure?
| DOI | 10.1177/095207678900400205 |
| Author | A.A. Jackson |
| Published date | 01 June 1989 |
| Date | 01 June 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
35
The
Scottish
Client
Group
Approach:
Indicators
of
Need
or
Discretionary
Variations
in
Expenditure?
A.A.
Jackson
University
of St.
Andrews
Introduction.
The
Client
Group
Approach
is
used
by
the
Scottish
Office
to
calculate
the
assessed
expenditure
needs
(AENs)
of
Scottish
local
authorities.
These
provide
the
basis for
equalising
’variations.....
in
the
relative
expenditure
needs
per
head
of
population....
of
local
authorities
undertaking
the
same
range
of
functions’
through
the
’needs
element’
of
the
Rate
(now
the
Revenue)
Support
Grant
(RSG).
(RSG
Scotland,
(4),
Order,
1985).
Conversion
of
the
local
tax
base
to
a
community
charge
and
a
uniform
pooled
non-domestic
rate
will
allow
the
’resources
element’
of
RSG
to
disappear.
However,
no
reform
of
local
finance
can
remove
differences
in
the
demands
placed
on
councils
or
the
costs
of
meeting
these.
If
local
authorities
are
to
be
left
able
to
offer
the
same
standard
of
service
for
the
same
community
charge,
the
needs
element
of
grant
will
continue
to
be
required.
The
new
arrangements
are
likely
to
increase
its
importance,
because
the
removal
of
non-domestic
rates
from
local
authority
control
will
greatly
enhance
the
impact
on
community
chargepayers
of
changes
in
assessed
need.
Principles
of
Needs
Equalisation
The
scale
of
assistance
available
to
Scottish
local
authorities
in
any
financial
year
is
pre-determined
by
the
Scottish
Secretary
of
State
as
part
of
the
process
of
allocating,the
share
of
public
expenditure
made
available
to
the
Scottish
Office
under
the
Barnett
formula.
Since
this
means
that
any
authority
can
only
gain
more
assistance
at
the
expense
of
the
rest,
the
system
of
grant
distribution
requires
an
assessment
of
relative
needs,
using
’objective’
indicators
unaffected
by
discretionary
council
expenditure.
The
Client
Group
Approach
is
designed
to
accomplish
this.
Its
aim
is
to
calculate
AENs
in
such
a
way
that
’local
authorities
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