§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has in respect of(a) the number of people in England and Wales paying domestic rates in full or in part, (b) the number of spouses of (a), (c) the number of local electors in England and Wales and (d) the number of people in England and Wales aged over 18 years not paying domestic rates who are not spouses of those paying rates.
§ Mr. HowardThe information is as follows:
- a. The latest estimate is 16.5 million.
- b. Based on data contained in the family expenditure survey I estimate there are about 10 million households with two adults where a rate is presently paid in whole or in part.
- c. The latest available information, from 1987 registers, is 37.9 million.
- d. Precise information is not available, although an approximation could be calculated from (a), (b) and (c) above. However, this information comes from a number of sources, which are not necessarily calculated on a mutually consistent basis.