THE EARL OF HARROWBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is true that licence fees and duties on such matters as charitable entertainments, pleasure boats, pet shops, kennels and circuses have recently been put up by amounts varying from 200 per cent. to 400 per cent., while the tax on bingo has only been put up by 25 per cent; and, if so, whether this discrepancy reflects Government policy on social priorities.
§ BARONESS SEROTAFees for the matters referred to in the first part of the Question and for many other licences and registrations dealt with by local authorities were increased by the Miscellaneous Fees(Variation) Order 1968. Many of these fees had remained unchanged for a considerable number of years; the increases took account of the change in the value of money since the charge was last fixed, the level of other related fees and the views of the local authority associations, as well as what was known about the cost of collection and inspection. The tax on premises used for playing bingo for cash prizes was first imposed by the Finance Act 1966. It was increased by the Finance Act 1968 by amounts varying from 25 per cent. to 100 per cent., according to the rateable value of the premises.
House adjourned at twenty-four minutes past eleven o'clock.