Council Tax

HC Deb 08 May 1991 vol 190 cc513-9W

18. Mr. Buckley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if there is to be a special rebate for disabled people who have incurred alterations to their home which falls into band A; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Key

Necessary alterations to the home of a disabled person will be disregarded in assessing the council tax band into which a property will fall. A disabled person's home which, without the alterations, would fall in band A will thus attract council tax at the lowest rate. Rebates of up to 100 per cent. will be available to help disabled people with low incomes.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has of the number and proportion of properties in London which fall within each band of his proposed council tax.

Mr. Key

[holding answer 7 May 1991]: The tables published on 23 April showing illustrative council tax bills included the estimated proportion of properties falling in each band in each local authority area.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out(a) the level of rate support grant assumed to be paid to Dacorum borough council for 1991–92 under the community charge and (b) the level of grant assumed in the indicative tables of council tax paid by his Department.

Mr. Key

[holding answer 30 April 1991]: With the community charge, the revenue support grant paid to Dacorum supports spending by both the borough and county council. Under our proposal for the council tax, grant will be paid directly to county councils. Any comparison of the level of grant paid to Dacorum would be misleading.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how local values are weighted by the national average of values to assess the council tax payroll in Grimsby and Humberside; what weighting factor he used; and what equation was used for incomes.

Mr. Key

[holding answer 30 April 1991]: Local values are not weighted by national average values, nor is an equation for income used, in estimating illustrative council tax bills.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing nationally and for each region the number of dwellings by tenure in each council tax band;

(2) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the council tax at the standard rate as a percentage of the quintile groups by equivalised disposable income for single adult retired, single adult non-retired, single adult with children and two or more adult retired households;

(3) what is his estimate of the gross amount of council tax payable on local authority dwellings in metropolitan districts, London boroughs and non-metropolitan districts and the amount accounted for by rent rebates;

(4) if he will publish a table showing nationally and regionally his estimate of the number of privately rented dwellings in each council tax band, the number in each case benefiting from rate relief, the amount of tax due and the amount relieved;

(5) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each council tax band shown in his illustrative tables the number and assumed average value nationally and regionally of leasehold dwellings together with his estimate of the current average leasehold value;

(6) if he will publish a table showing for each council tax band shown in his illustrative tables the number and assumed average value nationally and regionally of (a) council and (b) other dwellings together with the assumed gross and net yields from the council tax in each case.

Mr. Key

The information requested is not available.

Mr. John Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the number of domestic residences in each of the property value bands of the proposed council tax in England.

Mr. Key

The notes covering the tables of illustrative council tax bills published on 23 April show the number of homes in England, 18.9 million, and in table 1 the percentage of properties falling in each of the seven proposed bands.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proportion of households in England and in each standard region are in leasehold dwellings; and how leasehold dwellings will be valued for the council tax;

(2) if he will publish a table showing for Great Grimsby the number of leasehold dwellings, council dwellings and other rented dwellings in each council tax band and the basis on which they are to be valued.

Mr. Key

The information requested for Great Grimsby is not available. The Government are presently consulting on the method of allocating properties to different council tax bands.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for Great Grimsby his estimate of the number and percentage of householders who actually paid rates in 1979 and 1988 together with the number expected to pay the council tax.

Mr. Key

The number of domestic hereditaments liable for rates in Great Grimsby on 1 April 1979 and 1 April 1988 was 33,100 and 35,300 respectively. No information is available about the numbers or percentages of householders in Great Grimsby who actually paid rates, or about numbers expected to pay the council tax after taking account of rebates.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing his estimate of the percentage uplift on current market housing values implied in the council tax and similar tables for Great Grimsby, Mole Valley, Barrow in Furness, Westminster and Wandsworth; and if he will provide corresponding figures for each band.

Mr. Key

No uplift on current market housing values is implied in the council tax.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for(a) Great Grimsby, (b) Westminster, (c) Wandsworth and (d) Mole Valley, his estimate of the percentage of dwellings in each of the seven bands of the council tax.

Mr. Key

The estimated percentage of homes in each band in each local authority area was shown in the table published on 23 April.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for Great Grimsby his estimate of the average and quintile market values in 1989 of local authority dwellings, other dwelling and all dwellings: and if he will provide corresponding figures for valuations under the proposed council tax.

Mr. Key

The information requested is not available.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the percentage rate of council tax on the value of properties from £10,000 to £500,000 in £10,000 steps on the basis of a standard rate of 4 per cent. on a property worth £73,000.

Mr. Key

If council tax were at a standard rate of 4 per cent, the percentage rate for all properties would be 4 per cent.

Mr. French

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many residents in the city of Gloucester will benefit from reduced payments under his council tax proposals.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish tables listing(a) local authorities in order of percentage spending over standard spending assessment and (b) local authorities paying the highest illustrative bills; and if he will make a statement on the correlation between placings in the two tables and his assessment of the statistical relationship between the two factors;

(2) if he will publish a table showing for Great Grimsby his estimate of the number of properties with a current market value of (i) less than £20,000, £20,000 to £30,000 and £30,000 to £40,000, (ii) £68,000 to £88,000 and (iii) over £160,000 together with his estimate of the numbers which will fall into each council tax band under his proposals;

(3) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing nationally and for each standard region the estimated annual yield per council tax payer per band and the estimated annual yield from applying the same rate of tax in the standard band to all properties at current market values;

(4) what proportion nationally and regionally of the council tax is payable by tax payers in the second lowest and the second highest bands; and what is the corresponding proportion of the market values of the dwellings to the total in each case;

(5) if he will publish a table showing for Great Grimsby the numbers in each band qualifying for a 25 per cent. discount and the resultant increase in the amount of council tax payable by the other householders;

(6) if he will publish a table showing the estimated total yield and the yield per band tax payer from the proposed council tax in each band at (i) the proposed percentage difference from the £68,000 to £88,000 standard, (ii) a percentage representing the difference between £73,000 and the mid-point of the five restricted bands and the minimum and maximum of, respectively, the bottom and top bands; and if he will add corresponding figures for each standard region;

(7) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for (a) Great Grimsby, (b) Barrow in Furness, (c) Westminster, (d) Wandsworth and (e) Mole Valley, the amount of local authority expenditure per household and per adult and the corresponding amounts of poll tax and council tax, respectively;

(8) if he will publish a table showing the median, average, upper and lower quartiles, and upper and lower deciles of the value of dwellings nationally and in each region, the average market value of dwellings within each tenth, the council tax in each of such tenths for standard spending for two or more adults, and the amount of council tax which would be payable in each case if the standard tax payable was calculated on the difference between the average value and the national median;

(9) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing nationally and for each region the number of dwellings and average current market value in each of his seven council tax bands, their aggregate value in each case and the percentage of the value of all dwellings, the difference in each case between the average value per dwelling and the value for council tax purposes, and the difference between the average amount of tax payable under the proposed council tax and the amount which would be payable if the percentage in each case were adjusted to take account of the percentage difference between the average value and £73,000.

(10) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each region, each metropolitan and other county, and the City of London the budget relative to standard spending assessment, the average band D council tax for two people, the proportion of homes in each band and their average value, and the corresponding average earnings of adult males in the year to April 1990;

(11) if he will publish in the Official Report for each of the council districts in which the average value home is in bands A and G, the average value of homes and the council budgets relative to standard spending assessment, the standard amount of band D council tax, the proportion of homes in each tax band, and the overall gross and net yield from the tax as a percentage of the value of the homes;

(12) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for, respectively, the aggregate of the counties above and below the county with the median average earnings of full-time adult male workers, the yield per adult for the council tax at (i) the standard rate and (ii) the actual rate together with the respective average earnings per head for full-time adult male workers and the average value of dwellings per household;

(13) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for Barrow in Furness, Great Gritnsby, Westminster, Wandsworth and Elmbridge the amount of council tax payable on the median value in each band as a percentage of that value;

(14) if he will publish a table showing the amount of council tax payable on the median value in each band as a percentage of that value and the corresponding figures for each region;

(15) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each region, each metropolitan and other county, and the City of London, the estimated gross yield from the proposed council tax as a percentage of the capital value of the dwellings in each band and overall;

(16) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for Elmbridge and Great Grimsby (i) the council budget relative to the standard spending assessment, (ii) the amount of tax for two or more adults in properties in bands A and D together with the percentage of homes in each band and (iii) the average value of homes in bands A and G; and if he will set out the reasons for the difference.

(17) further to paragraph 6 of his illustrative tables for the new council tax, whether he will publish in the Official Report for each of the council districts in which the average value home is in bands A or G gross and net expenditure per household, the gross and net central Government contribution per household, the composition of households in family expenditure terms, the allowance per household made for different categories of public expenditure including in particular housing, education and social security, together with any categories of expenditure where there are market differences in expenditure in A and G areas or uncertainty in forecasting.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what impact there would be on the assumed levels of council tax in Dacorum borough for each band in the published indicative tables if the property valuations concerned were all 10 per cent. higher, assuming there to be no charges elsewhere in England.

Mr. Home Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the average illustrative council tax bill for a house occupied by two or more adults and by a single adult, respectively, in each local authority area in England on the same basis as the illustrative figures which have been published by the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Mr. Key

I refer my hon. Friends and the hon. Members to the answer I gave on 29 April 1991 to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter),Official Report, Volume 190, column 12.

21. Mrs. Maureen Hicks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the proposed council tax.

28. Mr. Canavan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has had so far to his consultative paper on local government taxation.

Mr. Portillo

The Government's council tax proposal has been widely welcomed by hon. Members and by those involved in local government. I look forward to receiving detailed responses to the consultation exercise now under way.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) further to his answer of 29 April,Official Report, column 13, if he will define a standard level of services and the level of provision that would sustain a local area covered by the definition; if he will explain how this can be held constant over different types of area; and if he will assess the consequences of variations on the relevance of the standard spending assessment calculations on the council tax;

(2) what is the relationship between the levels of council tax set for a district and the standard spending assessments for that district.

Mr. Key

The nature of standard spending assessments is set out in section 2.2 of "The Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England)", approved by the House of Commons on 18 January 1990. Standard spending assessments are calculated from data which are specific to each local authority and hence reflect differences between areas. Under the proposed council tax, if all authorities were to spend at the level of their standard assessment, the bills for each of the seven bands of property values would be the same in each area.