§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the average rise in Welsh council house rents in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonOn the basis of returns made by local authorities to the Department, the information is estimated to be as follows:
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Average rise in council house rents in Wales* £ per week 1981–82 +3.34 1982–83 +2.54 1983–84 +0.66 1984–85 +1.01 1985–86† +0.82 * The rent figures used are average unrebated rents (exclusive of rates) for each financial year. † The increase shown for 1985–86 is provisional because only 27 local authority returns (out of a total of 37) have been submitted to date.
Domestic poundage (p) Percentage Non-domestic poundage (p) Percentage 1981–82 21.4 20.4 20.1 14.2 1982–83 *22.3 17.6 5.1 3.1 1983–84 1.3 0.9 1.2 0.7 1984–85 13.9 9.3 13.6 8.1 1985–86 13.8 8.4 14.2 7.8 *Domestic rate relief was reduced from 36p in the pound in 1981–82 to 18.5p in 1982–83. Over the five-year period from 1981–82 to 1985–86, following the introduction of a separate RSG system for Wales, domestic and non-domestic rate poundages increased by 40.6 per cent. and 21.0 per cent. respectively; average increases of 7.1 per cent. and 3.9 per cent. per annum respectively. This compares with aggregate increases over the last four years of the previous administration (1974–75, following the reorganisation of local government, to 1978–79) of 118.8 per cent. in domestic rates and 58.1 per cent. in non-domestic rates; annual average increases of 21.6 per cent. and 12.1 per cent. respectively. The reduction in the rate of increase under this Government clearly demonstrates the success in Wales of our policies for local government finance and has benefited the taxpayer, industry and commerce and the domestic ratepayer.
Candidates in maintained secondary schools and tertiary colleges* 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 'O'Level: One modern language ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ 4,835 Two modern languages ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ 868 Computer studies 1,596 2,168 2,925 3,582 4,485 5,293 Latin 893 853 765 688 613 582 Economics 2,034 2,276 2,186 2,133 1,958 1,934 Sociology 504 777 810 1,259 1,161 1,127 'A' Level: One modem language ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ 690 Two modem languages ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ ‥ 210 Computer studies 73 103 223 276 391 476 Latin 78 84 80 83 71 71 Economics 1,429 1,500 1,716 1,721 1,725 1,794 Sociology 85 64 167 304 362 321 * Candidates taking WJEC summer examinations. Figures exclude external candidates. ‥Signifies that the information is not available in the form requested.