HC Deb 05 May 1998 vol 311 cc545-6
1. Mr. Keith Simpson (Mid-Norfolk)

What has been the average change in council tax levels for 1998–99. [39503]

The Minister for Local Government and Housing (Ms Hilary Armstrong)

The increase in council tax for the average household is 96p per week.

Mr. Simpson

I am grateful to the Minister for that information, which is meaningless to my constituents. Thanks to the Government's first local government finance award, £14 million has been taken out of the budget for Norfolk and the council tax has gone up by 16 per cent. For the people of Norfolk, that means new Labour, new taxes. What hope do the people of Norfolk have that things will get better next year?

Ms Armstrong

The increases in council tax this year reflect the changes that the previous Administration intended to introduce as part of the rebalancing of central and local taxation. Hon. Members will remember that, to get themselves out of the poll tax, the previous Administration put 2.5p on VAT and centralised local government spending enormously. They recognised that that was a mistake and began to amend it just before the election. We have continued that process and shall continue to set fair and meaningful taxes in our local government settlement next year.

Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton)

My hon. Friend is right when she draws attention to the problems that she and her colleagues inherited from the previous Government. Does she agree that one of the problems inherited from the Tories was the width of the gap between local authority spending and the standard spending assessment allowed by the Government, which increased throughout the 18 years of Tory government? I hope that my hon. Friend will work to correct that error and to narrow—and eventually close—the gap between local government spending and assistance from Government.

Ms Armstrong

My hon. Friend will know that we are currently consulting on changes to local government finance and trying to make it fairer and better balanced. Local people need to know that they are getting the quality of services that they expect, at the price they are prepared to pay. Our settlement this year has begun to move us in that direction, but we must go further.

Sir Norman Fowler (Sutton Coldfield)

Does the hon. Lady remember that, in the previous London elections, the electors of Croydon were promised that Labour would not raise the council tax? I have a copy of the pledge in my hand. Can she therefore explain why, this year, council tax in Croydon under Labour is going up by 11 per cent., and why, over the past four years, it has increased by 30 per cent?

Ms Armstrong

The right hon. Gentleman will also want to reflect on why his party, with the support of the hon. Member for Croydon, South (Mr. Ottaway), is telling the electorate that education is not a priority this year. The Conservatives are prepared to see the equivalent of two schools close in Croydon rather than allow relative rises in council tax to ensure the very best service provision. The council tax increase in Croydon this year reflects the decision that the Administration of which the right hon. Gentleman was a member made last year.

Sir Norman Fowler

I think that the phrase the hon. Lady is searching for is, "No, I can't explain it". That being so, can she at least explain why the 20 highest charging councils in England, from Liverpool to Greenwich, are under Labour control? Why does it cost an average of £300 a year more at band D to live under a Labour council in London than under a Conservative council?

Ms Armstrong

The right hon. Gentleman demonstrates that he has neither ears to hear nor nous to understand. I have explained the changes in Croydon. I do not know where the right hon. Gentleman has looked, but he will find that the top six increases in council tax have occurred in Tory areas.