Lord Chelwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what means and with what urgency they intend to search for a better financial regime for local authorities so that local taxes will be more broadly based, and related to people's ability to pay; and whether they will give an assurance that the setting up of a Royal Commission, or a similar form of full scale inquiry will not be delayed until the Rates Bill has become law, and the GLC and the metropoliton councils have been abolished.
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§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)Since they came into office in 1979, the Government have carried out an exhaustive review of the various options for raising local revenue, through the Green PaperAlternatives to Domestic Rates and the consultations that followed it. The options included a local income tax, which would relate revenue directly to ability to pay. No consensus emerged on an alternative to domestic rates, a conclusion which was reinforced by the findings of the Select Committee on the Environment in 1982.
The Government therefore concluded in the White Paper Rates (paragraph 2.15) that rates should remain for the foreseeable future the main source of local rvenue for local government. However, the White Paper also proposed a number of reforms designed to make the rating system more acceptable to both domestic and non-domestic ratepayers; those requiring legislation are included in Part III of the Rates Bill.
The Government are clear that, in the light of the work already done, no purpose would be served by a further review of the rating system. The immediate priority is to curb the excesses of those councils who are spending and rating excessively, and to establish single tier local government in London and the metropolitan counties. That is why the Government are pressing ahead with legislation on these two topics.