Rating Reform (Hansard, 30 January 1989)

§ Dr. Reid
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the latest estimates for the cost of collecting the poll tax in Strathclyde region.

§ Mr. Lang
Strathclyde regional council will have included an estimate of the cost of community charge collection in the budget which it has now set, but the council has not yet provided the Scottish Office with details of that budget.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what guidance he issues on the circumstances in which information used for the maintenance of the community charge registers may be disclosed to(a) other departments of Government, (b) the police and (c) public utilities;
(2) what guidance he issues on the use of personal data collected by the community charge officer for community charge purposes as a general information resource for the charging authority to use for other purposes, and whether he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Lang
We have made no provision for personal data to be disclosed for the purposes or to the organisations mentioned by the hon. Member. Section 20(2)(b) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended, provides that the extent to which a local authority shall be entitled to inspect the register shall be an entitlement to inspect such part of the register as relates to premises within their area for the purpose of determining, levying or collecting any community charge. I do not consider that specific guidance is required .in relation to either of these issues.

§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many responsible persons, as so described for the purpose of the community charge, had failed to complete properly the community charge inquiry forms in relation to their date of birth; on how many the £50 civil penalty had been imposed for this reason; and if he will give the information also for each regional council on 31 October 1988 and on the most recent convenient date.

§ Mr. Lang
The processing of community charges inquiry forms and the imposition of civil penalties are matters for individual community charges registration officers and the information requested is not held centrally.