HC Deb 29 October 1987 vol 121 cc433-4W
Mr. John Evans

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further consideration he has given to the implementation of the proposed poll tax.

Mr. Howard

I have given, and continue to give, a high priority to this issue.

Mr. Wray

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest assessment of the effect on the rate of electoral registration of his proposal for a poll tax.

Mr. Howard

The basis for compiling the electoral register in England and Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. I understand that he has no proposals for changing the date for electoral registration.

Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply of 22 October, Official Report, column 866, he will set out the information he has about the number of domestic properties in each local authority in the rateable value bands listed in the answer.

Mr. Howard

I have today placed the available information in the Library.

Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the studies leading to the Green Paper Cmnd. 9714 "Paying for Local Government" which are referred to in the final paragraph of the ministerial foreword.

Mr. Howard

No. The conclusions arising out of the studies are contained in the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government"—Cmnd. 9714.

Mr. Blunkett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the total cost to date of government initiatives to promote the community charge; and if he will also supply specific figures for the cost of (a) the tours by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Southampton, lichen (Mr. Chope) and by the Minister of State, the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe, (Mr. Howard) respectively, (b) the production of the booklet entitled "Paying for Local Government" and (c) the production of a video by the same name.

Mr. Howard

Since the publication of our Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" in January 1986, successive Ministers have taken the usual steps to ensure that Parliament, the media and all those affected, including local businessmen and the general public, are informed about the detail of the three-part package of reforms. It is not possible to put specific figures to the costs involved.

The three particular information exercises mentioned by the hon. Member all address the detail of the Government's proposals for local government finance as a whole, rather than focusing on the community charge.

  1. (a) The total cost of the regional visits made by my hon. Friend and myself, when we held discussions with leaders and officers of 20 local authorities as well as 11 meetings with local businessmen, was some £9,200, which includes the cost of back-ground panels explaining the three-part package. Some of the visits took place in association with other Government business.
  2. (b) Production and printing 100,000 copies of the booklet cost £16,200.
  3. (c) Fifty copies of the video were produced at a cost of £15,000.