Rating Reform (Hansard, 14 November 1989)

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing for each local authority area in Wales the proportion of poll tax registration forms which have been duly returned to his registration officer.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
This information is not held centrally. I understand, however, that the Welsh charging authorities have achieved high levels of registration. I expect to receive details of registered population from each charging authority shortly.

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will take steps to ensure that holiday homes which seek to be treated for poll tax purposes under the standard business rating system will be required to obtain a change of use approval from the local planning authority before any such rating designation is operational.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
No. The question whether any given hereditament, such as a holiday home, is to be regarded as non-domestic and so rateable is a matter for the valuation officer, whose decision will be made having regard to regulations which are to be made under powers conferred by the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The regulations will be laid before the House shortly.

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether any instructions or guidelines have been issued by the Welsh Office to district councils in Wales concerning the collection of community charges on a weekly or monthly basis from people facing difficulties in making the full payment; and what conditions have been placed on local authorities in facilitating any such staged payment scheme.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
All Welsh local authorities have been sent a copy of community charge practice note No. 12, "Collection of the Community Charge". Paragraphs 4.7–4.9 of that practice note remind authorities that some ratepayers will be accustomed to paying rates and rent together on a weekly or fortnightly schedule; and recommend authorities to consider how far they wish to afford chargepayers the opportunity to pay on a weekly or fortnightly basis, having regard to the benefits to chargepayers and the additional administrative costs involved. A copy of the practice note is in the Library of the House.