§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is(a) the number of appeals against council tax property banding, (b) the number rejected and (c) the number submitted subsequently to the appeals tribunal and the number of those granted.
816W
§ Mr. BaldryAs regards the first part of his question, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning gave to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Wells) on 15 December 1993.
As regards the remainder, proposals from taxpayers for amendment of bandings are transmitted to valuation tribunals at the end of six months, unless in the meantime they have been withdrawn or agreement has been reached in discussions between the Valuation Office Agency and the taxpayer. The Valuation Office Agency will however continue such discussions even after transmission to the valuation tribunal with the aim of achieving a satisfactory settlement. Only where this proves impossible is a case heard by a valuation tribunal.
By 30 November 1993, 500,210 proposals had been transmitted in this way to valuation tribunal offices, and 62 had been the subject of a tribunal hearing. Information on the decisions of individual tribunals is not collected centrally.