HC Deb 10 July 1991 vol 194 cc377-8W
Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he plans any measures to improve the ability of local councils to collect the outstanding community charge sums.

Mr. Portillo

We believe the enforcement powers now available to local authorities should enable them to collect the charge effectively. We are proposing some minor changes to the attachment of earnings process.

31 Mr. Viggers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he proposes to take measures to ensure that armed forces personnel within the United Kingdom pay their community charge, and that those serving overseas may be exempted.

Mr. Key

Members of the armed forces are subject to the community charge and its enforcement procedures in the same way as everyone else. Although we do not intend specifically to exempt armed forces who serve overseas, those who do so and move their sole or main residence from this country will not be liable to pay the community charge.

Mr. Key

The electoral roll is not used directly in the provision of central Government support to local authorities. However, the annual mid-year estimates of the resident population produced by OPCS are based partly on changes in the electoral roll from year to year. These estimates, along with census data and other indicators, are used to calculate the standard spending assessments and hence the level of revenue support grant appropriate to each local authority.

Mr. Dewar

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish population figures for each standard region in England for the years 1981–82 to 1991–92, on the same basis as was used to calculate per capita standard spending assessments in his written answer of 29 April,Official Report, column 10.

Mr. Portillo

The information requested is shown in the table. There is a lag of nearly two years before the mid-year population estimate is available for inclusion in standard spending assessments. The year shown at the head of the columns refers to the year of the calculated standard spending assessment.