Mr. Alan StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on non-domestic rates in 1990–91.
§ Mr. RifkindIn my statement to the House on 26 July about the revenue support grant settlement for 1990–91, 1 announced that I intended to reduce the rate bill for Scottish business next year by £80 million below what it would otherwise have been. I have now decided to apply this sum to reduce the rate poundage for all local authorities by 6.25 per cent. This will mean that all non-domestic ratepayers throughout Scotland will benefit from this further move to reduce their burden. The table shows the rate poundage which I intend to prescribe for each local authority in an order which I shall lay before Parliament early in the new year. The table also indicates the extent of the reduction in poundage at an individual ratepayer level as a result of our policy.
It is implicit in our policy that, over a period, the 40 per cent. derating which at present applies to manufacturing and freight industry in Scotland should be eliminated. But my intention is that the phasing out of industrial derating should be co-ordinated with the phasing in of a unified business rate north and south of the border. This will give manufacturing and freight industry the assurance that the effect of reducing the level of derating will in any particular year be neutral. For all other business sectors, the: reduction will be entirely beneficial. Having regard to my decision to reduce rate poundages by 6.25 per cent., I intend to set the level of industrial derating next year to 35 per cent., a decrease of 5 per cent. on the present level. The position will be reassessed each year until a unified business rate has been achieved and industrial derating has been eliminated entirely.
423W
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 1990–91 Rate Poundage Pre-UBR Reduction 1990–91 Rate Poundage Pre-UBR Reduction Reduction to Ratepayer Region + District Reduction p p p p Strathclyde 49.1 46.0 -3.1 — Tayside 45.9 43.0 -2.9 — Orkney 41.9 39.3 -2.6 -2.6 Shetland 39.6 37.1 -2.5 -2.5 Western Isles 61.5 57.6 -3.9 -3.9 Berwickshire 8.0 7.5 -0.5 -2.9 Ettrick and Lauderdale 9.1 8.5 -0.6 -3.0 Roxburgh 10.1 9.4 -0.7 -3.1 Tweeddale 7.7 7.2 -0.5 2.9 Clackmannan 15.9 14.9 -1.0 -3.8 Falkirk 13.0 12.2 -0.8 -3.6 Stirling 19.3 18.1 -1.2 -4.0 Annandale and Eskdale 9.7 9.1 -0.6 -3.2 Nithsdale 9.7 9.1 -0.6 -3.2 Stewartry 8.4 7.9 -0.5 -3.1 Wigtown 7.9 7.4 -0.5 -3.1 Dunfermline 10.8 10.1 -0.7 -3.8 Kirkcaldy 13.4 12.6 -0.8 -3.9 North East Fife 12.0 11.3 -0.7 -3.8 Aberdeen City 11.7 11.0 -0 7 -3.0 Banff and Buchan 10.5 9.8 -0.7 -3.0 Gordon 8.4 7.9 -0.5 -2.8 Kincardine and Deeside 6.9 6.5 -0.4 -2.7 Moray 8.8 8.2 -0.6 -2.9 Badenoch and Strathspey 6.7 6.3 -0.4 -3.2 Caithness 10.5 9.8 -0.7 -3.5 Inverness 8.0 7.5 -0.5 -3.3 Lochaber 12.1 11.4 -0.7 -3.5 Nairn 6.7 6.3 -0.4 -3.2 Ross and Cromarty 10.5 9.8 -0.7 -3.5 Skye and Lochalsh 10.1 9.4 -0.7 -3.5 Sutherland 7.5 7.1 -0.4 -3.2 East Lothian 14.3 13.4 -0CC9 -4.0 Edinburgh City 14.0 13.1 -0.9 -4.0 Midlothian 14.3 13.4 -0.9 -4.0 West Lothian 12.6 11.8 -0.8 -3.9 Argyll and Bute 15.9 14.9 -1.0 -4.1 Bearsden and Milngavie 10.9 10.8 -0.6 -3.7 Clydebank 16.3 15.3 -1.0 -4.1 Clydesdale 14.1 13.2 -0.9 -4.0 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 13.9 13.0 -0.9 -4.0 Cumnock and Doon Valley 14.3 13.4 -0.9 -4.0 Cunninghame 17.2 16.1 -1.1 -4.2 Dumbarton 15.9 14.9 -1.0 -4.1 East Kilbride 12.0 11.2 -0.8 -3.9 Eastwood 8.4 7.9 -0.5 -3 6 Glasgow City 22.3 20.9 -1.4 -4.5 Hamilton 15.1 14.2 -0.9 -4.0 Inverclyde 13.4 12.6 -0.8 -3.9 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 13.9 13.0 -0.9 -4.0 Kyle and Carrick 14.3 13.4 -0.9 -4.0 Monklands 15.1 14.2 -0.9 -4.0 Motherwell 13.7 12.9 -0.8 -3.9 Renfrew 15.1 14.2 -0.9 -4.0 Strathkelvin 13.4 12.6 -0.8 -3.9 Angus 11.3 10.6 -0.7 -3.6 Dundee City 18-1 16.9 -1.7 -4.1 Perth and Kinross 11.7 11.0 -0.7 -3.6 Notes:
1. Column 1 shows rate poundages which would have been required in 1990–91 were it not for the Government's Unified Business Rate policy.
2. Column 2 shows the actual rate poundages for 1990–91 which the Secretary of State intends to prescribe following the £80 million UBR reduction.
3. Column 3 shows the reduction in poundages at individual payer level.
§ Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his proposed community charge transitional relief scheme.
§ Mr. RifkindI have today sent to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities a paper describing the424W conclusions I have drawn after consultation with it. I intend to lay regulations in the new year which will provide for the introduction of the scheme.