§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to ensure that any private landlord who collects the poll tax from his tenants keeps an accurate record of payments made by each tenant; and how the money will be recovered if any such landlord fails to pay in these sums in full by the date of enforcement action for recovery taking place.
§ Mr. LangPayment of the personal community charge is, as its name implies, a personal responsibility and individuals are not required to make payments to private landlords but directly to the levying authority. Contributions to the collective community charge may, however, be collected by private landlords from people who at any time have their sole of main residence in premises, which have been designated by a community charge registration officer as subject to the collective community charge. Under sections 11(13) and (14) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended, landlords are required to issue receipts in respect of any such contributions made to them, showing the amounts paid and the days to which the contributions relate. They are also required to keep a record of all persons who have been solely or mainly resident in the premises, the period during which they were so resident and the amounts paid in contributions. The landlords themselves are liable to pay to the local authority the collective community charge determined in respect of their premises. Any shortfall in the amount due may be recovered by the levying authority by diligence as provided for in the 1987 Act.