§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide an estimate of how much the reduction in the taper from 20 per cent. to 15 per cent. for the community charge will cost.
390W
Number of single payments made by DHSS local offices in (a) Cleveland, (b) Cumbria, (c) Durham, (d) Northumberland and (e) Tyne and Wear during the months of July, August and September 1985, 1986 and 1987 Dates:1 30 July 1985 27 August 1985 24 September 1985 29 July 1986 26 August 1986 23 September 1986 28 July 1987 25 August 1987 22 September 1987 Offices2 (a) Cleveland Eston 1,107 840 1,064 1,031 928 918 549 584 540 Hartlepool 1,913 1,210 1,600 1,513 1,694 1,028 611 576 494 Middlesbrough 3,042 2,194 2,713 2,921 3,175 2,879 1,839 1,552 1,139 Redcar 961 799 940 835 1,127 1,223 548 573 479 Stockton 2,574 1,718 1,989 3,400 3,168 2,233 1,072 1,125 884 (b) Cumbria Barrow 448 366 531 378 342 403 3043 3043 103 Carlisle 514 521 511 769 667 552 353 336 273 Kendal 46 63 67 53 54 55 44 53 48 Penrith 45 51 57 66 52 53 35 34 48 Workington 514 621 734 448 485 454 240 266 241 Whitehaven 487 421 490 565 356 277 228 217 230 (c) Durham Bishop Auckland 1,291 1,048 1,252 1,250 914 934 604 575 537 Chester-le-Street 443 413 564 947 638 451 392 348 405 Darlington 1,116 879 1,163 1,473 1,013 991 890 805 878 Durham 432 431 476 346 263 325 271 242 253 Peterlee 467 371 386 437 425 539 84 318 377 Seaham 265 300 276 450 321 206 163 177 119 Stanley 1,067 920 1,050 944 1,114 879 662 525 590 (d) Northumberland
§ Mr. Peter LloydWe estimate that, if the community charge had been fully in place throughout Great Britain during the year 1988–89, the cost of a community charge benefit scheme with a 20 per cent. taper would have been £1,635 million and the cost with a 15 per cent. taper would have been £1,750 million, a difference of £115 million. These estimates are based on the personal allowances and premiums used in the current housing benefit scheme.