HC Deb 26 February 1973 vol 851 cc279-80W
Mr. Joel Barnett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to amend the working of the rate rebate scheme, with refer- ence to the way the present scheme works against newly retired pensioners; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Graham Page

Paragraphs 3.13 to 3.22 of the Green Paper "The Future Shape of Local Government Finance" outlined an extended rate rebate scheme and suggested there would be advantages in aligning as far as practicable the details of any new scheme with the scheme of rent rebates and allowances now prescribed in the Housing Finance Act 1972. A scheme so aligned would be more responsive to changes in income than the present one. The Government's proposals for the reform of local government finance, including the introduction of an extended rate rebate scheme, will be announced in due course.

Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will give details in the OFFICIAL REPORT of the action taken by his Department in the calendar year 1972 to reduce rents and rates and with what success in each instance; and in how many cases these actions were taken since the imposition of the Government's freeze in November 1972.

Mr. Rippon

The national rent rebate scheme introduced under the Housing Finance Act 1972 brought about reductions in the rent paid by a significant number of council and new town tenants, even after increases in the rent of their home. The Act also made rent allowances available for the first time from 1st January 1973 to private tenants in unfurnished accommodation, and some local authorities began to operate their rent allowance scheme in October 1972. On 1st December 1972 the rents of private unfurnished dwellings and of business tenancies were frozen at the level they were at on or before 5th November. The Rate Rebates (Limits of Income) Order 1973, which was laid before the House in December 1972, has made large increases in the qualifying income limits for rate rebate purposes. The Rate Support Grant Order 1972 increased the percentage of local authority relevant expenditure to be met by Government grant from 58 per cent. to 60 per cent. and thus substantially reduced the amounts that ratepayers would otherwise have had to pay in 1973.