§ 59. Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in the rate support grant settlement, the cost of making up for the de-rating of agricultural hereditaments falls upon all ratepayers or only those in predominantly rural areas.
§ Mr. KingThe rate support grant system enables local authorities to provide comparable standards of service for comparable rates in the pound on the rateable resources available to them. This means that if an authority has lower rateable resources because of agricultural derating, the rate support grant will automatically make good the deficiency to that authority, and the local ratepayers will not be adversely affected by the derating.