§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the likely cost to local authorities of collecting a community charge as opposed to domestic rates; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Howard[pursuant to his reply, 1 July 1987, c. 100]: Our preliminary estimate is that the cost of collecting the community charge may be, broadly, up to 57W twice the cost of collecting domestic rates. However, much depends on individual local authorities. The introduction of a wholly new system offers the opportunity for a reappraisal of existing practices, with the aim of reducing unit costs—for example, by the wider use of direct