§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proposals he has to collect information from local authorities about the level of their standard community charge;
(2) when he expects to know which local authorities are levying a standard community charge at less than twice the personal community charge.
§ Mr. ChopeWe are collecting information about standard charge multipliers for 1990–91 in a return which authorities have been asked to make to the Department in May.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list for each district authority in England(a) the amount of Government grant per authority, (b) the amount of UBR income per authority, (c) the taxable income per authority and (d) the revenue from taxable income per authority assumed in the 1990–91 "Illustrative Capital Value Rates and Local Income Tax" published by his Department on 4 April;
(2) if he will set out the formula for taxable income used to produce the 1990–91 "Illustrative Capital Value Rates and Local Income Tax" published by his Department on 4 April;
(3) if he will set out the grant formula used to produce the 1990–91 "Illustrative Capital Value Rates and Local Income Tax" published by his Department on 4 April.
§ Mr. Chope[holding answer 18 April 1990]: The illustrative capital value rates and local income tax figures published on 4 April assume that Government funds and business rates are distributed to achieve full equalisation of local income tax rates. This means that in every area the same local income tax rate could apply if all local authorities were spending at the level needed to provide a standard level of services. The level of grant entitlement 1030W would vary if expenditure were at a different level in order to ensure that each £1 per head of additional spending in any area would lead to exactly the same change in the local income tax rate. Areas with high average taxable incomes would receive less grant with higher spending, while areas with low taxable resources would receive more grant with higher spending. No reliable estimate of the taxable income of residents in each local authority area is available and hence no estimate of grant and business rate payments to each authority was made when producing the illustrative figures.