§ 2. Mr. IllsleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to alter the qualifying date for council tax transitional relief or introduce an exemption from the date in extenuating circumstances.
§ Mr. IllsleyIs not it incumbent on the Government to bring in some measure for people who have been prejudiced by the qualifying date for transitional relief? The Minister will be aware of a couple in my constituency who, on the qualifying date, had living with them temporarily their daughter and son-in-law. Because the following year the same date was carried forward, they will never be able to take advantage of transitional relief.
Should we be looking at a better use of transitional relief, bearing in mind the fact that Barnsley claimed about £345,000 whereas Wandsworth claimed an incredible £22 million? That works out at £4 per household in my constituency, compared with £195 per household in Wandsworth.
§ Mr. CurryIf transitional relief was to be a permanent system, where there had been anomalies one would have to put them right. But by its very definition, it is transitional. We had to have a simple and clear system and we took the last day of the community charge and the first day of the council tax, which was the obvious comparison. It was inevitable that a handful of people would be disadvantaged by that, but, no matter where we had taken that particular point, some people would have been disadvantaged.
I am aware of the hon. Gentleman's constituents, but the fact that the scheme is transitional and that we set up as simple a scheme as possible means that it is unrealistic to try to make more complications. As for Wandsworth, it must be clear from an arithmetical point of view that starting with a community charge of zero and moving to a different system will cause a much steeper transition than for councils that started from a lot more than zero. It is arithmetic, not a deception.
§ Mr. JesselIs my hon. Friend aware that Liberal-controlled Richmond-upon-Thames borough council increased the council tax, with or without transitional relief, by more than any of the other 32 London boroughs? There were no extenuating circumstances for them and, on 5 May, they lost six council seats.
§ Mr. CurryI am pleased to hear what my hon. Friend says. Where the level of taxation and the level of performance of local councils was a strong issue in the elections, Conservative councils, with their record of low taxation, did very well. I have no doubt that people who voted otherwise last week will soon discover what they voted for. They may have their revenge in a few years' time.