§ Mr. Duffyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what estimate he has made of the effect of the poll tax in the city of Sheffield on a family of two in (a) a terraced house with a rateable value of £120, (b) a semi-detached house with a rateable value of £200 and (c) a detached house with a rateable value of £400;
(2) what estimate he has made of the effect of a poll tax on an average family of four in the city of Sheffield.
§ Mr. ChopeThe Government have proposals for a community charge and not a poll tax.
Illustrative figures were placed in the Library on 1 April showing the community charge figure in each area if the system had been fully in operation in 1986–87, and on the basis of expenditure and grant figures applicable to that year. On these assumptions, the community charge in Sheffield would have been £322. It would have been only £170 if spending had been in accordance with our assessment of need to spend, instead of what was actually spent.
The average domestic rate bill in Sheffield in 1986–87, using adjusted poundages, was £450 per hereditament. On the same basis, houses with rateable values of £120, £200 and £400 would have had rate bills of £397, £662 and £1,325 respectively.