§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the percentage of persons subject to the community charge who are exempted on the basis of category C9: residential care workers who are employed at a very low salary for each local authority in England.
§ Mr. KeyFrom the returns received by the Department, the table gives the information requested for those authorities which reported 20 or more persons in the category of exemptions on 1 June 1990. The average proportion for England as a whole is .004 per cent.
263W
Number of residential care workers employed at a very low salary who were exempt from the personal community charge on 1 June 1990, as a percentage of the number of persons subject to a personal community charge on 1 June 1990 Authority Per cent. Camden 0.01 Cotswold 0.04 East Dorset 0.16 Forest of Dean 0.08 Hackney 0.07 Hillingdon 0.02 Leicester 0.01 Liverpool 0.01 Northavon 0.07 Plymouth 0.02 Richmond-on-Thames 0.04 Scarborough 0.12 Stockton-on-Tees 0.02 Wakefield 0.01 Wandsworth 0.02 Wealden 0.03
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to protect community charge payers from cuts in local authority services due to community charge limitations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KeyThe action we have taken, and shall not hesitate to take again, is to protect charge payers from authorities' excessive budgets.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will undertake a review of the level of aggregate external finance being made available to local authorities in 1991–92;
(2) if he will undertake a review of the level of revenue support grant being made available to local authorities in 1991–92;
(3) when he intends to bring before the House the final reports of the local authority finance settlement for 1991–92;
(4) if he will undertake a review of the phased withdrawal of the area protection grant from local authorities in 1991–92 and 1992–93; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloFormal consultation on our proposals for the local government finance settlement ended on 28 November. My right hon. Friend is now considering the representations made. He expects to lay the settlement reports before the House soon.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his best estimates of the size of the average poll tax bill in 1991–92.
§ Mr. PortilloMy right hon. Friend has made no estimate of the average level of community charges in 1991–92, which depends upon the decisions of the local authorities. If authorities spent in line with their standard spending assessments, the average community charge should be close to £380.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he expects to conclude his review of the poll tax;
(2) if he has any plans to undertake a fundamental review of the poll tax transitional relief scheme for its operation in 1991–92;
264W(3) if he has any plans to undertake a fundamental review of the operation of the joint and several liability provisions of the poll tax for 1991–92;
(4) if he will list all those bodies he intends to consult on the future of local government finance.
§ Mr. PortilloMy right hon. Friend announced on 5 December that we shall be conducting a fundamental review of local government finance and structure.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to undertake a review of the existing restrictions on the use of capital receipts by local authorities for 1991–92.
§ Mr. PortilloWe are already consulting on changes which we consider to be necessary for 1991–92. The local authority associations have recently submitted a paper setting out their proposals and this will be considered carefully.
§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people serving in Her Majesty's forces have appealed against their being included on the community charge register; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will undertake a review of his proposed poll tax-capping rules for 1991–92; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloAs I told the House on 3 December, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I stick firmly by the intended criteria announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr. Patten) on 31 October.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for each local authority his proposed basic credit approval for 1991–92.
§ Mr. PortilloBasic credit approvals for individual local authorities for 1991–92 will be announced in due course. I will arrange for a copy of this information to be placed in the Library of the House of Commons when it is available.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to review his proposed standard spending assessments for local authorities for 1991–92.
§ Mr. PortilloWe are considering the representations made in response to our proposals for 1991–92 as set out in the statement on 31 October. We will announce our decisions shortly.
§ Mr. NellistTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all working papers, implementation documents, departmental circulars and other publications, regulations and notices, in draft or final form, that have been issued in 1990 arising from the implementation of the poll tax.
§ Mr. Key[holding answer 7 December 1990]: My Department has issued the following regulations, practice notes and consultation documents on the community charge and the national non-domestic rating system in 1990.
265WRegulations
The Personal Community Charge (Relief) (England) Regulations 1990/2
The Standard Community Charge (Multipliers) Order 1990/129
The Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1990/145
The Community Charges (Co-owners) Regulations 1990/146
The Community Charges and Non-Domestic Rating (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations 1990/156
The Standard Community Charge and Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Domestic Property) Order 1990/162
The Wimbledon and Putney Commons (Special Levies) Regulations 1990/201
The Commons Regulations (Therfield) Provisional Order Confirmation Act 1988 (Amendment) Order 1990/233
The City of London (Non-Domestic Rating Multiplier) Order 1990/340
The Community Charges and Non-Domestic Rating (Demand Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/366
The Community Charges and Non-Domestic Rating (Demand Notices) (City of London) Regulations 1990/369
The Personal Community Charge (Relief) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/402
The Personal Community Charge (Exemption for the Severely Mentally Impaired) Order 1990/462
The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1990/502
Community Charges (Deductions from Income Support) (No. 2) Regulations 1990/545
The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1990/582
The Non-Domestic Rating (Transitional Period) Regulations 1990/608
The Non-Domestic Rating (Caravan Sites) Regulations 1990/673
The Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/711
The Personal Community Charge (Qualifying Courses of Education) Regulations 1990/712
The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/769
The Local Government Finance (Repeals, Savings and Consequential Amendments) Order 1990/776
The General Rate Act 1967 and Related Provisions (Savings and Consequential Provision) Regulations 1990/777
The Gas and Electricity Industries (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1990/804
The Community Charges (Notices) (Substitute Charges) (England) Regulations 1990/942
The Local Government Finance (Miscellaneous Amendments and Repeal) Order 1990/1285
The Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1990/1426
The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1990/1566
The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1990/1822
The Non-Domestic Rating (Payment of Interest) Regulations 1990/1904
The Personal Community Charge (Students) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/1986.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 1990/2025.
266WThe Non-Domestic Rating (Transitional Period) (No. 2) Regulations 1990/2329.
The Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (England) (Amendment) Regulations 1990/2472
Practice Notes
The Community Charge: Maintaining the Community
Charge Register—Community Charge Practice No. 24.
Non-domestic rates: Transitional Arrangements—Non-domestic rates Practice Note No. 3.
Non-domestic rates: The Boundary between the Community Charge and Non-domestic (Business) rates: Definition of Domestic Property—Non-domestic rates Practice Note No. 4.
Non-Domestic rates: Alteration of Lists and Appeals—Non-domestic rates Practice Note No. 5.
Non-domestic rates: Discretionary Rate Relief—A Non-domestic rates Practice Note.
Consultation Documents
Non-domestic rating: Bed and Breakfast Accommodation.
Business rates: Valuation of Property formerly in Enterprise Zones
The Standard Community Charge and other Matters. Community Charge Bill.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will undertake a review of his estimates of poll tax collection rates for 1990–91 and the likely impact on poll tax bills in 1991–92;
(2) what are his best estimates of the amount of poll tax income that will prove impossible to collect by the end of the current financial year.
§ Mr. PortilloWhen local authorities come to set community charges for 1991–92 they will make proper estimates of the likely level of collection for that year and of how much uncollected in 1990–91 will prove to be uncollectable and should be written off. Such estimates are not for me to make.