§ Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how the district council precept for the Cherwell district council for 1986–87 compares in real terms with the precept for 1976–77; and how this change compares with the average of changes for all district councils in England over the last 10 years.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe figures for local rates in the two years are not comparable due to changes made in 1981–82 to the method of distributing government grants. At ratepayers level the domestic rate in Cherwell has risen by 50 per cent. in real terms (using the GDP deflator) between 1976–77 and 1986–87 compared with the average for all English shire districts of 47 per cent.
Since 1981–82, Cherwell has reduced its local rate by 6 per cent. in real terms compared with an increase of 7 per cent. for the average of all English shire districts.