§ Mr. Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many representations he has now received requesting a complete review of the present domestic rating system;
(2) what representations he has received about the rate rises in Cheshire; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John SilkinA number of representations have been received from local councils and individual ratepayers including some from Cheshire. There will be an opportunity to debate the issues in the House on Thursday 27th June.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the latest figures available, showing the average percentage increases, including the maximum and minimum percentage increases in each case, for (a) domestic and (b) industrial ratepayers within each of the new non-metropolitan and metropolitan counties of England, Scotland and Wales and in Greater London, for the financial year 1974–75.
§ Mr. John SilkinA number of rating authorities in England and Wales have still not sent their rate returns to the Department. It is not therefore possible to calculate a meaningful average increase in rates for each county. The districts with the highest and lowest increase in average rate poundage of those so far received in each county are listed below. The figures for domestic rates include the effect of charges for water and sewerage services; for non-domestic rates only sewerage charges are included. In any district, individual increases may differ from the average quoted here because various rates may have obtained within constituent areas in 1973–74, and in consequence there may be differential rates in 1974–75. No information is available on rate increases in Scotland.
The figures for England and Wales are as follows:
421W
422W423W
PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN AVERAGE RATE POUNDAGES 1973–4 TO 1974–5 Domestic Non-Domestic County District Highest Lowest District (if different from Col. 2) Highest Lowest (1) (2) (3) METROPOLITAN Greater Manchester … … Manchester … … — 4 — — 13 Trafford … … 53 — — 63 — Merseyside … … Liverpool … … — 2 — — 11 St. Helens … … 45 — — 53 — South Yorkshire … … Sheffield … … — 27 — — 36 Doncaster … … — — — 67 — Tyne and Wear … … Newcastle … … — 37 — — 46 South Tyneside … … 69 — — 86 — West Midlands … … Birmingham … … — 22 — — 34 Solihull … … 88 — — 101 — West Yorkshire … … Bradford … … — 45 — — 52 Wakefield … … 104 — — 119 — NON-METROPOLITAN Avon … … Bath … … — 28 — — 38 Wansdyke … … 46 — — 61 — Bedfordshire … … South Beds … … 40 40 — 51 51 Berkshire … … Bracknell … … — 20 Slough … … … — 34 Reading … … 28 — Wokingham — … … 41 — Bucks … … Beaconsfield … … — 21 — — 38 Milton Keynes … … 34 — — 43 — Cambridgeshire … … Cambridge … … — 14 — — 29 East Cambridge … … 50 — — 61 — Cheshire … … Chester … … — 45 Halton … … … … — 54 Crewe and Nantwich … … 55 — — 69 — Cleveland … … Langbaurgh … … — 50 — — 59 Hartlepool … … 58 — — 71 — Cornwall … … Penwith … … — 57 — — 68 Caradon … … S3 — Kerrier … … … … 90 — Cumbria … … Copeland … … — 19 — — 29 Eden … … 27 — — 39 — Derbyshire … Derby … … — 38 — — 51 Bolsover … … 50 — — 62 — Devon … … Exeter … … — 25 — — 36 Tiverton … … 92 — — 88 — Dorset … … Christchurch … … — 31 Bole … … … — 43 North Dorset … … 68 — — 83 —
424W425W
Domestic Non-Domestic County District Highest Lowest District (if different from Col. 2) Highest Lowest (1) (2) (3) Durham … Darlington/Teesdale … … — 51 Darlington … … … … — 60 Durham … … 64 — — — 78 — East Sussex … Hove … … — 7 — — 21 Hastings … … 37 — Wealden … … … … 53 — Essex … Harlow … … — 12 — — 26 Southend-On-Sea … … 30 — — 46 — Gloucestershire … Cheltenham … … — 23 — — 35 Stroud … … 50 — — 62 — Hampshire … Basingstoke … … — 27 — — 41 East Hampshire. … … 47 — — 62 — Hereford and Worcester … Redditch … … — 28 Hereford … … … … — 39 Hereford … … 46 — Redditch … … … … 41 — Hertfordshire … Broxbourne … … — 14 — — 27 Three Rivers … … 28 — — 40 — Humberside … Grimsby … … — 40 — — 51 Boothferry … … 78 — — 92 — Isle of Wight … … Not available Kent … Shepway … … — 17 Thanet … … … … — 28 Medway … … 64 — — 67 — Lancashire … Blackpool … … — 21 — — 34 Chorley … Chorley … … 41 — — 53 — Leicestershire … Leicester … … — 33 — — 47 Blaby … … 63 — — 77 — Lincolnshire … South Holland … … — 58 — — 67 68 — — 79 — Norfolk … North Norfolk … … — 55 — — 64 Broadland … … 72 — — 80 — Northamptonshire … Corby … … — 14 — — 29 South Northants … … 60 — — 70 — Northumberland … Castlemorpeth … … — 33 — — 46 Berwick upon Tweed … … 46 — — 59 — North Yorkshire … York … … — 29 — — 45 Craven … … 67 — — 74 — Nottinghamshire … Bassetlaw … … — 23 — — 35 Rushcliffe … … 57 — — 65 — Oxfordshire … Oxford … … — 26 — — 39 South Oxfordshire … … 41 — — 53 — Salop … Shrewsbury … … — 34 — — 46 South Shropshire … … 79 — — 90 —
426W427W
Domestic Non-Domestic County District Highest Lowest District (if different from Col. 2) Highest Lowest (1) (2) (3) Somerset … … Taunton Deane … … — 41 — — 57 West Somerset … … 57 — — 72 — Staffordshire … … Stoke on Trent … … — 28 — — 37 South Stafford … … 65 — — 79 — Suffolk … … Ipswich … … — 34 — — 46 Waveny … … 39 — — 54 — Surrey … … Epsom & Ewell … … — 4 — — 23 Tandridge … … 25 — — 40 — Warwickshire … … Nuneaton … … — 47 — — 58 North Warwickshire … … 80 — — 93 — West Sussex … … Worthing … … — 8 — — 19 Arun … … 23 — — 35 — Wiltshire … … Salisbury. … … — 35 — — 46 Kennett … … 48 — — 59 — Clwyd … … Colwyn … … — -7 Rhuddlan … … … … — 34 Delyn … … 14 — — 55 — Dyfed … … South Pembrokeshire … … — 41 Dinefwr … … … … — 88 Llanelli … … 49 — South Pembrokeshire … … … … 109 — Gwent … … No information available Gwynedd … … Aberconwy … … — 8 — — 66 Ynrs Mon … … 55 — Dwyfor … … … … 89 — Mid-Glamorgan … … Ogwr … … — 10 — — 47 Rhymney Valley … … 19 — — 52 — Powys … … Radnor … … 43 43 — 76 76 South Glamorgan … … Cardiff … … -17 -17 — 37 37 West Glamorgan … … Neath … … — 2 Afan … … … … — 38 Lliw Valley … … 8 — — 53 — Inner London … … Hackney … … — -4 — — 12 Lambeth … … 12 — City of London … … … … 40 — Outer London … … Bexley … … — 1 — — 13 Hillingdon … … 39 — — 52 —
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the rates burden per head and per household, respectively, in the current financial year; and what were the comparable figures in each of the previous five years.
§ Mr. John SilkinInformation is not yet available for this financial year. The figures for the previous five years are as follows:
Average domestic rate payment per hereditament Average domestic rate payment per head of population £ £ 1969–70 … … 43.82 14.32 1970–71 … … 46.28 15.28 1971–72 … … 53.36 17.91 1972–73 … … 60.00 20.32 1973–74 65.52 22.57
Rateable values Average rate poundage Rate call Domestic Non-Domestic Domestic Non-Domestic Domestic Non-Domestic Year £000 £000 P P £000 £000 1969–70 1,144,264 1,235,340 61.12 67.37 699,374 832,248 1970–71 1,171,460 1,269,070 63.91 72.24 748,680 916,776 1971–72 1,196,730 1,296,068 73.05 82.55 874,211 1,069,904 1972–73 1,224,010 1,321,332 81.41 91.91 996,467 1,214,436 1973–74 3,245,492 3,464,758 34.32 40.32 1,113,853 1,396,930 1974–75 (estimated) 3,310,402 3,534,053 41.98 55.53 1,389,707 1,962,460 NOTES: 1. Poundages for 1969–70 and 1970–71 converted from old to new pence. 2. Domestic rate poundage is reduced by the appropriate domestic relief. For the year 1974–75 the domestic relief is the average for England and Wales. 3. For 1974–75 rateable values are estimated on the 1973–74 adjusted values—for Crown revaluation Increased by 2 per cent. The rate poundages are the averages based on returns from about 60 per cent. of local authorities. The domestic and non-domestic poundages include an estimated sewerage rate to give comparability with earlier years. The domestic rate poundages does not include water rate
§ Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now able to estimate the number of ratepayers whose rate bills have increased by more than 25 per cent. over their rate bills for 1973–74.
§ Mr. John SilkinThis information is not available.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has from local authorities about arrears of rates over the past five years.
§ Mr. John SilkinMy Department does not collect this information.