§ Mr. Gwilym JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his plans for a scheme of transitional relief to help community chargepayers in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerIn July I announced that the average community charge in Wales for 1990–91 would be £175, provided that Welsh local authorities budgeted in line with my plans. This will benefit all Welsh community chargepayers. In addition to this a three-year scheme of community charge transitional relief is to be introduced which will provide further assistance to personal chargepayers in Wales. The cost of the scheme will be £17.5 million in 1990–91.
I am placing in the Library copies of a paper setting out my proposals, which have been the subject of consultation with the Welsh local authority associations. The scheme gives protection to those facing significant increases over their 1989–90 domestic rates bills. It will provide broadly the same protection as that provided by a district safety net but without the need for contributions from chargepayers.
The scheme I am announcing today will mean that in 1990–91 personal chargepayers in communities where domestic ratable values are low will face an increase of no more than £25 per year—less than 50p a week—over the average 1989–90 domestic rates bill for each adult in their community area, provided that local authorities spend in 448W line with my plans. Residents of many communities and some inner city communities will be protected from large increases as we introduce the new system.
In bringing forward these proposals, I must emphasise the important responsibility which now falls upon Welsh local authorities in their budget-making for 1990–91. The announcement I have made must not be taken by authorities as a signal to increase spending; rather, I look to Welsh local authorities to ensure, in setting their budgets for 1990–91, that the full benefits of these new arrangements flow through to chargepayers.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales at what level he proposes to set the total of revenue support grant, the national non-domestic rate multiplier and the distributable amount of national non-domestic rate for Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI announced on 20 July that I proposed to set the total of aggregate external finance (the level of central Government support for local authority revenue spending) at £1,733 million, an increase of 8.6 per cent. over the comparable level for 1989–90. This support comprises three component elements: revenue support grant, the national non-domestic rates distributable amount, and relevant specific grants.
I now estimate that the amount of business rates to be distributed in 1990–91 (the distributable amount) will be £454 million. This is the amount (adjusted to allow for certain technical factors) which I expect charging authorities to receive in respect of rates paid by private businesses, nationalised industries, and local authorities themselves, together with a contribution in respect of Crown property. This amount includes an element from the business sector which is broadly the same in real terms as the equivalent amount for 1989–90. In arriving at the distributable amount I have estimated that the national non-domestic rating multiplier for 1990–91 will be 38p; but this figure will be provisional until I have final information about the effects of the revaluation and other relevant factors.
I estimate that relevant specific grants towards local authority revenue expenditure will total £154.2 million. Further details will be available at the time of the Autumn Statement.
I propose that the total of revenue support grant should be £1,124.8 million. I am today consulting Welsh local authorities and their associations on this amount.
I will also shortly be notifying the associations of my proposals for the distribution and population reports, together with exemplifications of the likely effect of my proposals on individual authorities. These will be based on provisional population figures from community charge registers. The Welsh local authority associations share the view that it would not be helpful to publish exemplifications at this stage.