§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he proposes to seek to place a duty on local authorities to compensate community charge and business rate payers for service which falls below an agreed minimum standard.
§ Mr. Gummer[holding answer, 3 July 1989]: No. Simple, clear community charge bills will enable chargepayers to judge the efficiency and value for money with which local authorities provide services. Chargepayers will be able to express in the political and electoral processes any concern that they may feel about standards of service. In future, the business rate poundage will be set nationally, but authorities will have a duty to consult representatives of business in their area about their expenditure proposals and in that way business ratepayers will be able to make their views known.