HC Deb 27 July 1989 vol 157 cc929-32W
Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the total sum which will be raised by the community charge in England and Wales in the first year of collection.

Mr. David Hunt

If English local authorities spend in line with the level of total standard spending proposed by my right hon. Friend on 19 July, and given the level of aggregate external finance he proposed, they would need to raise about £9.7 billion from community charges in 1990–91. The equivalent figure for Wales, announced by my right hon. Friend on 20 July, is £376 million. Not all of these sums would come from chargepayers, because of community charge benefit.

Mr. Hanley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will prepare a leaflet explaining the effect of the community charge upon private tenants and their landlords.

Mr. David Hunt

My Department is preparing such a leaflet, which will cover landlords and tenants in the private, public and housing association sectors. It will be available free of charge later this year.

Mr. Waller

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the maximum percentage reduction in rates from which business will benefit in 1990–91, following the introduction of the uniform business rate; and whether he will make it his policy that any increase in this percentage figure during the transitional period should not be brought about by penalising those businesses liable to higher rate bills.

Mr. David Hunt

I will write to my hon. Friend.

Mr. Macdonald

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he plans to issue any guidelines to local authorities in England and Wales in respect of poll tax payments for(a) Royal Navy personnel and (b) merchant seamen;

(2) what guidelines have been issued to local authorities in England and Wales in respect of poll tax payments for Royal Navy personnel and merchant seamen away from home for a period of more than six months, for both householders and non-householders; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. David Hunt

Guidance on United Kingdom service personnel was included in community charge practice note No. 17 published in April this year. Guidance on questions of sole or main residence was contained in community charge practice No. 9 published last November. Copies of all practice notes are in the Library of the House. It is for community charge registration officers to decide where an individual is solely or mainly resident on the facts of each individual case.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the estimated yield in the current financial year of a business rate for (a) offices, (b) shops, cafes and restaurants, (c) hotels and boarding houses based on the capital value and (d) other business premises equal to, respectively (i) five per cent. in the City of London, (ii) four per cent. in the rest of London, (iii) three per cent. in the metropolitan districts and (iv) two per cent. elsewhere in the United Kingdom, together with his estimate of the yield in 1988–89 under the present arrangement and under the new arrangements.

Mr. David Hunt

The estimated yield in the United Kingdom for 1988–89 from business rates under the present arrangements is as follows:

£ million
Offices 1,900
Shops and restaurants 1,800
Hotels and boarding houses 150
Other businesses 4,600

The other information requested is not available.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will detail the community charge liability of a carer who resides part-time in his other home and the remainder of the time in the home of the persons being cared for when the homes are in different boroughs; whether he will make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the carer pays only the equivalent of one poll tax however that is distributed between the two boroughs concerned; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. David Hunt

My right hon. Friend intends to bring forward regulations providing for a separate class of standard charge property. The new class will include property which is unoccupied as a result of a person receiving care because of illness or infirmity, and will enable relief from the standard charge to be given in respect of such property. The precise details of the relief will be the subject of consultation in due course.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether an individual (i) receiving and (ii) applying for severe disablement allowance will be exempt from the poll tax; whether any doctor can declare a person eligible as required for severe disablement allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. David Hunt

Individuals in receipt of severe disablement allowance will be exempt from the personal community charge if they satisfy the definition of severely mentally impaired persons set out in schedule 1 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Details of the procedure to be followed to qualify for the exemption are set out in practice note 19, copies of which have been available from the Library of the House since 10 May.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each charging authority area, attributing grant income received by precepting authorities under the current grant system to each area in proportion to the aggregate of rateable values in that area(a) the estimated rate support grant for 1989–90, (b) the estimated amount of revenue support grant which would have been payable in 1989–90 under the proposed new grant system, had the system been in its first year of operation in 1989–90 within full safety nets and assuming needs assessment at 1989–90 grant-related expenditure levels, (c) the estimated amount of revenue grant payable in 1989–90 under the proposed new grant system after the end of safety nets and assuming needs assessment at 1989–90 grant-related expenditure levels, (d) the difference between (a) and (b), (e) the difference between (a) and (c), and (f) the difference between (b) and (c), showing aggregates for each figure for each class of charging authority and for each region, showing inner London, outer London and the rest of the south east separately.

Mr. David Hunt

[holding answer 26 July 1989]: A table giving the information requested has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each charging authority area, attributing business rate income received by precepting authorities under the current system to each area in proportion to the aggregate of rateable values in that area(a) the estimated revenue from the non-domestic rate in 1989–90, (b) the estimated amount which would have been raised in revenue by the national non-domestic rate in 1989–90 after the end of transitional arrangements and assuming rateable values at current levels, (c) the amount which would have been paid from the national non-domestic rating pool to each area in 1989–90, (d) the difference between (a) and (b), (e) the difference between (b) and (c) and (f) the difference between (a) and (c) showing aggregates for each figure for each class of charging authority and for each region, showing inner London, outer London and the rest of the south-east separately.

Mr. David Hunt

[holding answer 26 July 1989]: A table giving the information requested has been placed in the Library. For the purpose of illustration, it is assumed that the national non-domestic rate multiplier is set to raise the same level of income as under the present system.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance he has given to community charge registration officers on possible penalties and actions against individuals for non-payment of the poll tax in England and Wales; and if he will list these.

Mr. David Hunt

Guidance on recovery and enforcement of the community charge has been prepared jointly by the Government and the local authority associations in practice note No. 15 which we intend to distribute to local authorities next week. Copies of the document are available in the Library of the House.

The practice note lists the measures currently available for the enforcement of domestic rates, explains how these are to be applied to community charges, and gives details of additional remedies available to charging authorities through magistrates' courts.