§ Mr. CawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list the precepting councils in England and Wales in order of the average council tax payable in that area; [105180]
(2) if he will list the police authorities of England and Wales in order of the average council tax payable in that area. [105182]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 17 January 2000]: The information requested on Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
The table shows the notional average Council Tax per dwelling for each of the major precepting authorities in England. The more common measure for comparison is the Band D Council Tax from which all bills are derived and on the basis of which all taxpayers in the same band within an authority pay the same amount. This is also given. It has a closer relation to how Council Tax bills are derived and hence what taxpayers will be paying.
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Council Tax by English precepting authorities in 1999–2000 Precepting authority1 Average Council Tax per dwelling2 (£) Band D Council tax (£) County Councils Buckinghamshire 645 601 Surrey 640 585 Cheshire 617 697 Bedfordshire 615 694 Dorset 596 652 Hampshire 575 610 Oxfordshire 574 601 Hertfordshire 574 581 Nottinghamshire 567 749 Warwickshire 561 642 Wiltshire 560 594 Lancashire 558 731 West Sussex 549 586 East Sussex 543 622 Essex 540 599 Northumberland 538 716 Kent 537 602 Derbyshire 526 689 Leicestershire 526 629 Devon 525 616 North Yorkshire 519 589 Shropshire 516 609 Somerset 504 594 Cambridgeshire 502 570 Gloucestershire 498 577 Cumbria 495 662 Worcestershire 489 561 Suffolk 476 585 Norfolk 471 612 Staffordshire 466 577
Council Tax by English precepting authorities in 1999–2000 Precepting authority 1 Average Council Tax per dwelling 2 (£) Band D Council tax (£) Northamptonshire 463 586 Lincolnshire 451 600 Durham 448 662 Cornwall 446 565 Police Authorities Surrey 86 75 Metropolitan 77 83 Dorset 69 77 Wiltshire 63 69 Staffordshire 62 79 Warwickshire 62 71 Hertfordshire 62 64 Lincolnshire 61 82 Northamptonshire 60 76 Gloucestershire 60 69 Essex 59 65 Cumbria 58 78 Thames Valley 55 57 Merseyside 55 77 Leicestershire 53 64 Bedfordshire 52 61 West Mercia 50 59 Avon and Somerset 50 61 Derbyshire 50 66 Norfolk 50 64 Hampshire 49 54 Cheshire 48 56 Sussex 47 53 Kent 47 52 Suffolk 46 56 North Yorkshire 46 52 Nottinghamshire 46 62 Devon and Cornwall 45 54 Cambridgeshire 44 52 Cleveland 44 63 Lancashire 44 58 Greater Manchester 43 60 Humberside 38 55 South Yorkshire 38 57 West Midlands 37 51 Durham 35 50 Northumbria 34 50 West Yorkshire 34 55 Fire Authorities Merseyside 27 38 Tyne and Wear 26 40 London 25 28 West Midlands 21 28 Greater Manchester 21 29 South Yorkshire 20 29 West Yorkshire 18 24 1 Precepting authorities include County Councils, Police and Fire authorities. 2 Tax requirement divided by number of chargeable dwellings.