§ Mr. Cordleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will arrange the provision of some central Government 262W financial aid to those local authorities compelled to increase their staff in order to deal with the additional administrative work involved in separate unit rating for caravans and in order that the authorities may be enabled properly to control their expenditure and limit rate increases;
(2) if he will list each of the local authorities in England and Wales that will need to increase their staff, indicating in each case the number of additional staff required, in order to deal with the additional administrative work required to render a separate rating demand in respect of each holiday caravan instead of one demand in respect of each holiday caravan site;
(3) whether, in order to assist local authorities to control their administrative expenditure and to limit the number of staff that they need to employ, he will introduce legislation to obviate the separate rating of individual holiday caravans, and to return to the previously recognised system whereby one rate demand was made in respect of each holiday caravan site.
§ Mr. OakesThe Rating (Caravan Sites) Bill, which was introduced in another place on 19th December, makes provision for the valuation and rating as a single unit of leisure caravans, their pitches and sites. If enacted the Bill will avoid the increases in the staff of rating authorities which would be necessary if the present system continued.