§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the local authorities in England which had compiled their community charges register by 1 December 1989 as required.
§ Mr. ChopeAll 366 charging authorities in England and Wales had compiled a community charges register by I December. Details of individual authorities' excellent register returns have been available from the Library of the House since 13 December.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the £10 premium received by 97W unemployed people who are participating in the employment training scheme is disregarded for community charge purposes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeThe training premium paid to those participating in the employment training scheme is disregarded in the calculation of community charge benefit.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether 18-year-olds on the YTS are liable for the community charge; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeThose people who are on the youth training scheme and aged 18 or over are subject to the community charge. They will be able to apply for community charge benefit to help them with their payments.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the purposes for which a charging authority can use the information disclosed to it by a community charge registration officer for purposes other than those associated with the community charge; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeCharging authorities derive their powers and duties from the Local Government Finance Act 1988, and in that capacity they have no functions other than those conferred in that Act.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning the disclosure of anonymous poll tax data without the consent or knowledge of the poll tax payer; whether he will summarise the representations and place them in the Library; whether he plans to consult other organisations before introducing any regulation that allows for the disclosure of anonymous poll tax data; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeThe Office of the Data Protection Registrar has written seeking assurances about the disclosure of anonymous community charges register data and asking to be consulted on the regulations. Our intention is to consult other organisations before introducing any regulations allowing community charges registration officers to release non-personal data to third parties.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from local authorities on the need to disclose anonymous poll tax data; whether he will place a copy of the representations in the Library; what plans he has to ensure that the regulations that allow disclosure of anonymous poll tax data protect individuals from identification; and whether he will make a statement.
98W
Member Nominating Body Yorkshire Regional Rivers Advisory Committee Mr. J. Whitworth (Chairman) — Mr. J. C. Cooke Country Landowners Association Mr. R. Pigg National Farmers Union Mr. J. Armitage Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Ms S. Marsden Eye on the Aire Dr. S. A. Bucknall Countryside Commission Dr. P. Knights Nature Conservancy Council Mr. P. Andrew Confederation of British Industry Mr. M. Wright Central Electricity Generating Board Councillor C. D. Swinglehurst North Yorkshire County Council Mr. I. White British Waterways Board Councillor R. Mitchell Association of Metropolitan Authorities Mr. C. Hawkesworth Sports Council
§ Mr. ChopeOne representation has been received on this subject from a local authority, making a case for allowing officers of the authority other than those involved in community charge registration to derive aggregate information from the register for planning and research purposes and for allowing the transfer of aggregate data to other authorities. The intention is that the regulation governing the release of data by community charges registration officers will enable them to release statistical data; there is no intention to create a power that enables an individual's privacy to be breached.
§ Mr. AdleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether all local authorities on their community charge payment form are obliged to offer the facility of single payment by one member of the household, in accordance with former normal practice.
§ Mr. ChopeIn order to increase the accountability of local authorities to their electorate, the community charge legislation requires every person who is liable to pay the personal community charge to be sent a demand notice. Where more than one person in a household receives a demand notice, it is a matter for members of that household to decide whether each individual should pay his or her own bill or whether to adopt some other arrangement.
§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total revenue which local authorities in Great Britain expect to receive from(a) community charge and (b) business rates in 1990–91; and what was the income from (c) personal rates, and (d) business rates in 1989–90 in actual terms and as a percentage of (a) and (b) respectivel.