§ 49. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is now his estimate of the overall rate increases for the financial year 1971–72 expressed in percentage terms compared with the average percentage increase over the previous four years.
§ Mr. Graham PageAn exact assessment of rate increases will not be practicable until a few weeks' time when the usual returns have been made by all rating authorities. Early figures from a sample of authorities suggest that the average increase in poundage this year might be of the order of 13 per cent. to 14 per cent. The average annual increase over the last four years was a little over 6 per cent.