§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) of 10 June 2003,Official Report, columns 746–47W, on council tax, what the council tax was as a percentage of gross income for (a) pensioner households and (b) non-pensioner households in each income decile in England for the financial year 2001–02. [121737]
§ John HealeyThe information requested falls within the Responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
49WLetter from Len Cook to Mr. Edward Davey, dated 30 June 2003:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for a break down of council tax as a percentage of gross income in England in 2001–02 by (a) pensioner and (b) non-pensioner households consistent with estimates given in the previous answer of 10 June to Matthew Taylor MP for households in Great Britain. (121737).Estimates for council taxes and income are based on the analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2001–02" produced by the ONS and published on the National Statistics website on April 11 2003 and in Economics Trends in the May 2003 edition. The analysis can be obtained from the House of Commons Library. This includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey. Sample sizes for pensioner households are only sufficient to allow a breakdown to be given for England not for Scotland or Wales, and by quintiles of income distribution not by decile.
Pensioner households have been defined as those where the Household Reference Person is retired or unoccupied and aged 65 or more and male, or 60 years of age or more and female, and
Council tax as a percentage of gross income for pensioner 1 and non-pensioner households, 2001–02, England Percentage Quintile groups of all households ranked disposable income Households Bottom 2nd 3rd 4th Top All households Quintile points2(equivalised Pensioner 9,230 11,539 13,998 8,548 disposable income £ per year) Non-pensioner 11,773 17,264 23,332 32,276 Gross council tax Pensioner 8.3 4.9 2.9 2.3 1.6 2.8 Non-pensioner 7.4 4.5 3.6 2.8 1.8 3.1 Net council tax3 Pensioner 6.1 3.4 2.1 1.9 1.6 2.2 Non-pensioner 4.6 3.9 3.5 2.7 1.8 2.8 1 Household reference person is retired or unoccupied and over minimum state pension age. 2 Equivalised disposable income at the boundary point between two quintile groups. 3 Net councils taxes after deducting benefits and discounts. Source:
Office for National tatistis, based on the analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', published on the ONS website and in Economic Trends No. 594 May 2003.