§ 2. Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have notified him of their intention not to increase their rates for 1988–89.
§ Mr. RidleyFifty-one.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryHas my right hon. Friend noticed that Sedgemoor district council is not increasing its rate this year, whereas Liberal-controlled Somerset county council is increasing its rate by an unnecessary 12 per cent.? Does he agree that this contrast is partly disguised by having a single rate demand that adds together the two figures? Will he change the rules and insist on separate rate demands from separate local authorities? It might cost more in postage, but it would bring a big benefit in terms of accountability and public awareness.
§ Mr. RidleyI agree entirely with my hon. Friend. It is odd that freedom of information is Liberal policy except when it comes to telling the electorate by how much the rates have been increased. The answer to the problem will be the community charge. The new charge demand bill will set out extremely clearly the overspending or the underspending of the county and the overspending or the underspending of the district. Every charge payer will be in full possession of the information and will know why he has to pay too much, if he does.
§ Mr. WilsonWould the Secretary of State care to calculate by how much the authorities in question would have had to increase their domestic poll tax if that system had been in effect when there was an interrelationship between the uniform business rate and the domestic sector of their income?
§ Mr. RidleyI should not like to make that calculation on my feet, but if the community charge had been in place I bet that they would not have increased their spending by so much.
§ Mr. DevlinHow many of the authorities that my right hon. Friend has mentioned are controlled by one party, and what proportion of them are Conservative controlled?
§ Mr. RidleyOf the 51 authorities to which I referred, 17 are Conservative and 28 are rate or precept-limited in one respect of another. The others are controlled by the odds and sods brigade.
§ Dr. CunninghamAs the Secretary of State and his hon. Friends are interested in rate increases this year, has he heard from the top 10 Tory district authorities in England with the highest rates? They are Gillingham, West Wiltshire, Melton, Suffolk Coastal, Wokingham, Dover, North Wiltshire, East Northampton, Havant and Stafford. All are Tory controlled, with rate rises of 42.3 per cent. in Gillingham, 41 per cent. in West Wiltshire, 41 per cent. in Melton, 39 per cent. in Suffolk Coastal, 29 per cent. in Wokingham, 29 per cent. in Shepway, the constituency of the Minister for Local Government, who is not here today, 26 per cent. in Dover, 25 per cent. in North Wiltshire, 24 per cent. in East Northampton, 21 per 818 cent. in Havant and 21 per cent. in Stafford. For good measure, Tory Lincolnshire is up by 14 per cent., Tory Kent by 12.5 per cent. and Tory Surrey by 10.5 per cent. What has happened to the Secretary of State's promise to the House that this year rates would not go above the rate of inflation?
§ Mr. RidleyThe hon. Gentleman does not give the base from which those figures spring. He may know that Gillingham has, over many years, had zero rate rises.
§ Mr. OppenheimIs my right hon. Friend aware of the scurrilous leaflet that was sent out with the rate demand by Derbyshire county council, which claimed that the council's spending since Labour took control in 1981 had hardly risen at all? In fact, its spending had risen by 69 per cent. Does not this false and misleading propaganda, which is sent out with a rate demand, add insult to injury?
§ Mr. RidleyDerbyshire's rate for 1988–89, at 297.5p, is the highest of all county councils. I should tell my hon. Friend that since the Conservatives lost control in 1981, the council has sacrificed £50 million in central Government grant as a result of its overspending. That is a burden of £70 per head for each domestic ratepayer.