§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the accumulated arrears of community charge and council tax in each existing Scottish local authority which will be handed to their successor unitary authority; and what proportion of those arrears he estimates are capable of collection. [21699]
§ Mr. KynochInformation on uncollected community charge and council tax, including water charges, is collected by regional and islands council area. The difference between amounts billed and amounts collected as at 31 December 1995, the most recent date for which the information is currently available, is set out in the table below. We expect the new local authorities to use their best endeavours to collect all outstanding amounts.
581W
Amount of unpaid council tax/community charge 1989–90 to 1994–95 £000 Authority Community charge Council tax Total Borders 3,400 1,500 4,900 Central 14,600 4,700 19,300 Dumfries and Galloway 4,400 3,000 7,400 Fife 24,800 7,500 32,300 Grampian 20,400 9,300 29,700 Highland 12,400 8,400 20,800 Lothian 111,800 31,800 143,600 Strathclyde 360,600 98,400 459,000 Tayside 30,300 10,700 41,000 Orkney 200 300 500 Shetland 200 400 600 Western Isles 1,200 800 2,000 Scotland 584,300 176,800 761,100