Dr Julian Lewis: It is my pleasure to present a petition in the same terms as that presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Graham Stuart). It is signed by Mr Peter Osborne and other residents of the villages of Minstead, Lyndhurst, Bartley and Bramshaw in the New Forest East constituency, and it requests that the House of Commons urge the Government to reduce the rural penalty in staged steps by at least 10% by 2020.

The Petition of the residents of New Forest East Constituency,

Declares that the Petitioners believe that the Local Government Finance Settlement is unfair to rural communities; notes that the Rural Penalty sees urban areas receive 50% more support per head than rural areas despite higher costs in rural service delivery; and opposes the planned freezing of this inequity in the 2013–14 settlement for six years until 2020.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to reduce the Rural Penalty in staged steps by at least 10% by 2020.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.