HC Deb 06 November 1987 vol 121 cc912-3W
Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply of 26 October, Official Report, columns 37–38, on regional losers and gainers under the poll tax, he will make the disaggregated information available so that further disaggregation by household type can be carried out.

Mr. Howard

[holding answer 2 November 1987]: I cannot release the detailed family expenditure survey information without breaking the undertakings on confidentiality given to those that took part in the surveys.

Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how a local authority will be aware of the extent to which its assessed need to spend is grant-aided under his proposals for the new grant system to be introduced with the poll tax.

Mr. Howard

[holding answer 3 November 1987]: Revenue support grant will be paid into the collection fund for an area, as will payments from the national non-domestic rate pool and the community charges. It will not be necessary to attribute the receipts from each source to each authority, as authorities will receive the income they require from the collection fund generally. The extent to which the cost of local authority services is being met by revenue support grant will, however, be clear to those paying the community charge.

Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 21 October, Official Report, column 822, he will list the exaggerations and distortions in the National Council for Civil Liberties report on the poll tax.

Mr. Howard

[holding answer 5 November 1987]: The NCCL report is misleading in several respects. For example, it implies that the contents of the community charges register will not be covered by the Data Protection Act. That is simply incorrect. The report also claims that registration for the community charge will involve an invasion of people's privacy. In fact, the community charges registration officer will have no need to inquire into people's personal circumstances. He will merely seek to establish the names and addresses of people who are solely or mainly resident in his area.