§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in view 612W of the present energy conservation campaign, he will recommend local authorities to disregard improvement in thermal insulation standards by property owners for the purposes of rate assessment.
§ Mr. ArmstrongRating assessments are carried out by valuation officers of the Inland Revenue, not by local authorities. A rating assessment is based on the rental value of a property, and any improvement which would increase that value should in principle be reflected in the rateable value. We have no proposals at present to alter this situation, but the position on dwellings is that by virtue of Section 21 of the Local Government Act 1974, improvements of this kind would be ignored until the next general revaluation.