§ Mr. McAllionasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received 586W from local authorities (a) supporting and (b) opposing the introduction of the community charge as a replacement for domestic rates.
§ Mr. HowardI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Gateshead. East (Ms. Quin) on 24 July (Vol. 120, col.722).
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he proposes to specify the terms and conditions of appointment of community charge registration officers;
(2) whether he will permit authorities to nominate existing officers appointed under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 as community charge registration officers.
§ Mr. RidleyI intend to provide that the community charge registration officer for a local authority will he the person who has responsibility for administering the authority's financial affairs under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the proposed duties of the community charge registration officer.
§ Mr. RidleyThe registration officer will be under a duty to compile and maintain an accurate and up-to-date register of all those who are liable to pay community charges in the area of his authority.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it will be a matter for the community charge registration officer or the local authority to decide matters of policy and resourcing relating to the task of community charge registration.
§ Mr. RidleyRegistration officers will be responsible for compiling and maintaining community charge registers. Local authorities will be required to provide registration officers with sufficient resources to carry out those functions.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters he has received on his proposals to reform local government finance since June 1987; what percentage of these letters he estimates to be in favour of his proposals; and what percentage or these letters he estimates to be opposed to his proposals.
§ Mr. RidleySince June 1987 my Department has received more than 3,000 letters about specific aspects of our proposals and requests for further information. Those who have written were neither invited to, nor on the whole did they, express a view on the proposals as a whole.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each local authority (a) the number of persons he estimates would be liable to pay the community charge and (b) the number of community charge payers whom he expects to receive assistance with the community charge by a rebate system.
§ Mr. RidleyI have today placed in the Library the adult population figures underlying the community charge exemplifications which I published on 29 June (Vol. 118, c.44). It is not possible to make reliable estimates of the numbers of people likely to be eligible for community charge rebates in each area.
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§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now in a position to make a statement on the proposed treatment of the Corporation of the City of London for the purposes of community charge and non-domestic rates.
§ Mr. RidleyYes. The City of London is unique among local authorities in its very small resident population combined with its need to provide services for a large daytime inflow of commuters. It is also unique in that the city retains a "business vote". In the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd. 9714) it was accepted that special arrangements would be required for the City of London. My officials have therefore discussed with the corporation and with the local authority associations proposals to allow the corporation to levy a small variable non-domestic rate provided a pre-determined proportion of expenditure is met by community charge payers. There will be arrangements to offset the contribution from city non-domestic ratepayers to city expenditure from their contribution to the national non-domestic rate pool.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each local authority (a) the number of electors, (b) the number of domestic ratepayers who (i) now pay full rates, (ii) now pay part rates because of assistance by rate rebates and (iii) now pay no rates because of assistance by rate rebates and (c) the number of spouses or partners of domestic ratepayers who would be jointly and severally liable for the rates bill had the provisions he proposes for joint and several liability of community charge applied to rates.
§ Mr. RidleyI have today placed in the Library the available information for each local authority on the numbers of domestic properties liable for rates and the numbers of ratepayers receiving full and partial rebates.
The number of electors in each local authority area is published in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys monitor EL/87/1, available from the Library.
Precise information on the number of ratepayers' spouses or partners who would be jointly and severally liable for the rates bill is not available. However the 1981 census county reports, available from the Library, show in table 39 numbers of people living with spouses in each local authority area.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the estimated costs incurred since June on promoting his proposals for local government finance reform, itemising separately (a) publications, (b) videos and similar material and (c) promotional tours by Ministers.
§ Mr. RidleyI refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 October to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett).
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the latest figures he has for poll taxes, expressed both as total revenue and the charge per adult in £ sterling, in (a) Japan, (b) the Canadian provinces and (c) any other countries;
(2) what information he has as to how many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries do not have a tax on residential or domestic property.
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§ Mr. RidleyThe most recent data we have are contained in annex K to the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd 9714).
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he plans to monitor the current year's electoral registration process to discern whether the prospect of a community charge is resulting in a change in the numbers of electors registered.
§ Mr. RidleyNo.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report the numbers of staff, their grades and duties working on the implementation of his proposals to reform local government finance.
§ Mr. RidleyThe following staff in my Department are engaged on all aspects of the reform of local government finance.
Grade Full time Part time Grade 3 — 2 Grade 4 — 1 Grade 5 3 3 Grade 6 1 — Grade 7 5 5 SEO 1 2 HEO 7 3 EO 5 2 AO 3 2 AA 2 — PS 3 1 Typist 2 — Total 32 21 A number of staff in other Government Departments are also involved, as part of their other duties, in this area of work.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether estimates of the adult population used for revenue support grant and distribution of the proceeds of the national non-domestic rate pool will include students and persons who are exempt from paying community charge.
§ Mr. RidleyI have yet to make proposals on the estimates of adult population to be used for the purposes of distributing revenue support grant and the proceeds of the national non-domestic rate pool. I intend, however, that these estimates should take account of the fact that students will pay a reduced community charge and that other categories will be exempt from paying the community charge.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the full-time equivalent of the numbers of staff of his Department employed on dealing with correspondence from the general public in relation to his proposals to reform local government finance.
§ Mr. RidleyThere are approximately 13½ staff (fte) involved in answering correspondence on rate reform. This includes both correspondence from Members of Parliament and the general public. Answering the inordinate number of parliamentary questions from the hon. Gentleman of course imposes considerable additional burden on my Department's resources.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the sources of the estimates of 589W adult population by local authorities for the purposes of (a) revenue support grant and (b) distribution of the proceeds from the national non-domestic rate pool.
§ Mr. RidleyNo decision has yet been made as to the sources from which esimates of adult population should be drawn.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how he proposes to deal with the rating of new domestic property during the period of phasing out rates.
§ Mr. RidleyI must ask the hon. Gentleman to await the publication of the legislation.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he proposes to give any assistance to local authorities whose areas contain large numbers of students to meet the cost of expenditure above that which would be financed by the basic community charge.
§ Mr. RidleyThe revenue support grant system will compensate fully for differences between authorities up to the level of their assessed need to spend; the full cost of expenditure above that level will fall on local charge payers.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to discuss with local government and in what forum the proposals for a community charge rebate scheme.
§ Mr. RidleyWe are considering, with the local authority associations, the most appropriate forum for future discussions on the community charge rebate system.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the Commission for Racial Equality on the effect of his community charge proposals on families from the ethnic minorities.
§ Mr. RidleyNone.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the average community charge to be paid by student nurses living in hospitals attached to teaching hospitals in inner London.
§ Mr. RidleyI placed illustrative community charge figures for all local authorities, including inner London boroughs, in the Library on 29 June.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how he proposes to change the financial limits measured in terms of a penny rate product if his proposals to change the system of local government finance are carried through.
§ Mr. RidleyNo decisions have yet been taken on this matter, but appropriate arrangements will be proposed.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for reviewing rateable value limits in the Leasehold Reform Act when domestic rates are replaced by the poll tax.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI propose to issue shortly a consultation paper on the implications for the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 and other landlord and tenant legislation of the proposed abolition of domestic rates.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply of 26 October, Official Report, columns 39–40, giving figures of gainers 590W and losers by households in England on the introduction of the full community charge, he will make a statement showing why the single pensioner and other single adult losers are greater than the same categories for Great Britain given in table J7 of Cmnd. 9714, "Paying For Local Government".
§ Mr. HowardThe figures are on different bases. Those I gave to the hon. Member on 26 October (Vol. 121, columns39–40) showed the estimated position without any transitional grant provisions. Table J7 of "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd. 9714) showed the estimated effect with the continuation of the transitional grant provisions proposed in the Green Paper.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report any information he has on a parish-by-parish basis on the effects of his proposals to reform local government finance on the finances of parish councils, showing (a) the amount of parish precept per household and (b) the amount of community charge per adult in respect of parish services, calculated on the same basis as the figures referred to in his answer on 29 June, Official Report, column 44.
§ Mr. RidleyThere are about 8,000 parish councils. Information about parish precepts is available but could only be expressed as an amount per household at disproportionate cost.
Information about parish expenditure is not collected centrally. As a result of our proposals for the payment of grant and non-domestic rates published on 23 September, parish council expenditure will be supported by grant and non-domestic rates in the same way as other local government expenditure. The illustrative community charges published on 29 June include parish precepts.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the 1987–88 community charge for the City of London on the same basis as that for all other authorities referred to in his answer of 29 June, Official Report, column 44.
§ Mr. RidleyNo. We have always made it clear that separate arrangements would be necessary for the City of London.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 22 October, Official Report, column 862–3, he will place in the Library the comments he has received from the Audit Commission on the effect of his proposals for the reform of local government finance on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of local authorities.
§ Mr. RidleyNo. I do not have permission from the commission to publish its comments.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the effect on the level of community charge in each local authority of a 5 per cent. evasion rate, based on the figures referred to in his answer on 29 June, Official Report, column 44.
§ Mr. RidleyNo. There is no basis for assuming a uniform 5 per cent. rate of evasion.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how he proposes to define great personal 591W sensitivity in the context of information which will not be available to community charge registration officers, pursuant to his answer of 21 October, column 825.
§ Mr. RidleyAs I indicated in my answer of 21 October (Vol. 120, col.825), such material will be prescribed in regulations.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he proposes to omit any members of Her Majesty's Forces from the community charge register; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RidleyIt would be impractical to register individually the most mobile service personnel for the personal community charge. It would also be undesirable, for security reasons, for certain details to be included in community charges registers.
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give his latest estimates of the likely evasion rate of community charge.
§ Mr. RidleyI have made no such estimate.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information local authorities will be permitted to provide on total revenue and spending when sending out poll tax demands; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 29 October]: This is a matter for further discussion with the local authority associations. It is not obvious that any specific prohibitions will be required. In line with our proposals for the operation of the grant system and the local collection fund, however, we shall be taking powers to prescribe the minimum information to be provided and the format of the community charge bill.