§ LORD JACQUESMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will bear in mind the advisability of local authorities being paid, as a right, a proportion of the proposed value added tax raised in their areas, with a view to reducing the excessive burden of taxation on domestic accommodation and widening the incentives to local authorities to increase their revenues.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY (LORD ABERDARE)My Lords, the Government have announced their intention to publish in due course a Green Paper on the reform of local government finance, to serve as a basis for public discussion of the best means of financing local authorities' expenditure. I would ask the noble Lord to await its publication.
§ LORD JACQUESMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. May I ask the Government to bear in mind that local rates form a very high percentage of rents, particularly in the case of small houses, which means that housing is regarded as a luxury instead of as a necessity and many people who pay their national taxes in sorrow, pay their local rates in anger? May I also ask the Government to bear in mind that while there are practical difficulties in the proposal embodied in the Question, they are by no means insuperable?
§ LORD ABERDAREYes, my Lords, most certainly this Green Paper will consider all aspects of local authority finance. So far as the proposal of the noble Lord is concerned, I understand that the Federal Republic of Germany has a system of this sort at the moment.
§ LORD HEYCOCKMy Lords, is the Minister able at the moment to tell us at what stage this Green Paper is going to be brought into being? For a long time we in local government have been concerned as to the financial implications of the organisation. We are very concerned to see the Green Paper at the earliest possible moment.
§ LORD ABERDAREMy Lords, the Green Paper will be produced before the Summer Recess, whenever that may be.