§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he plans to take to encourage people entitled to transitional allowance and particularly pensioners to lodge claims both in 1989–90 and 1990–91; and whether he will consider an advertising campaign to that end.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Scottish Office undertook an advertising campaign in the national press earlier this year and issued more than 150,000 leaflets explaining the scheme to local authorities and interested organisations. Additionally, most local authorities have made extensive efforts to encourage applications from pensioners and the disabled who may be eligible for increased relief under the scheme. We do not consider that any further action needs to be taken.
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§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the percentage of those entitled to transitional allowances on the poll tax in 1989–90 who have actually claimed.
§ Mr. RifkindNinety per cent. of those people estimated to be eligible for transitional relief should be identified automatically from local authorities' records. At this stage it is not possible to estimate the number of pensioners and the disabled who will receive increased relief for which application must be made.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland were liable to pay the poll tax in(a) 1989–90 and (b) 1990–91.
§ Mr. RifkindReturns from community charges registration officers indicate that, as at 5 September 1989, a total of 3,904,189 people were liable to pay the personal community charge. Comparable figures are not yet available for 1990, but in setting their community charges earlier this year, local authorities assumed that 3,887,531 people would be liable to pay the personal community charge in 1990–91. These figures include students, who are liable for only 20 per cent. of the community charge, but exclude those liable for collective or standard community charges.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of second homes for each local authority, on the basis of information collected for the poll tax.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonInformation on second homes is not collected for the purpose of levying the community charges. The number of premises liable for the standard community charge for each district and islands council area as at 5 September 1989 is set out in the table.
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Number of standard charge premises September 1989 Berwickshire 420 Ettrick and Lauderdale 372 Roxburgh 482 Tweeddale 235 Clackmannan 592 Falkirk 1,117 Stirling 1,876 Annandale and Eskdale 654 Nithsdale 886 Stewartry 872 Wigtown 846 Dunfermline 131 Kirkcaldy 441 North East Fife 1,731 Aberdeen 3,390 Banff and Buchan 2,005 Gordon 1,545 Kincardine and Deeside 1,260 Moray 2,060 Badenoch and Strathspey 1,021 Caithness 1,023 Inverness 1,350 Lochaber 916 Nairn 251 Ross and Cromarty 2,022 Skye and Lochalsh 868 Sutherland 1,033 East Lothian 2,273 Edinburgh 14,469 Midlothian 1,442 West Lothian 2,348
Number of standard charge premises September 1989 Argyll and Bute 5,085 Bearsden and Milngavie 257 Clydebank 910 Clydesdale 997 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 539 Cumnock and Doon Valley 780 Cunninghame 2,981 Dumbarton 1,620 East Kilbride 743 Eastwood 572 Glasgow 20,875 Hamilton 1,397 Inverclyde 1,869 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 1,092 Kyle and Carrick 1,502 Monklands 1,301 Motherwell 1,835 Renfrew 3,913 Strathkelvin 723 Angus 2,059 Dundee 4,699 Perth and Kinross 3,894 Orkney 700 Shetland 902 Western Isles 587 Scotland Total 111,763