§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many repossession orders for non-payment of rates have been issued in each year since 1976 within each(a) district, (b) borough and (c) city council area; and how many individuals have been imprisoned due to rates arrears in the same period.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 15 February 1990]: I am assuming that the information requested relates only to Wales. Information on repossession orders for non-payment of rates is not collected centrally. According to records held centrally, which are approximate, two people were known to have been committed to custody by courts in Wales for non-payment of rates in 1976. The corresponding figures for 1982 and 1988 were seven and four respectively. Statistics for other years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information for England and Wales is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (table 6.3 of the latest volume, for 1988, Cm. 825) copies of which are in the Library.