§ 22. Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for sorting out the financial difficulties of local authorities which have arisen as a result of the poll tax.
§ Mr. LangOn the basis of their own estimates of community charge collection levels, local authorities will receive around 99 per cent. of their total budgeted income in relation to both 1989–90 and the current year. We therefore must avoid making too much of their difficulties, especially as aggregate external finance for next year is being increased by 10–4 per cent.
§ 30. Mr. RiddickTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland by how much local government spending has increased or decreased in Scotland since the introduction of the community charge.
Numbers on the community charge register: July 1990 Known exemptions from community charge Number liable to personal community charge (including students) 18+ in receipt child benefit Prisoners Foreign armed forces Dependents of foreign armed forces Severely mentally handicapped Other Total Borders 78,285 85 8 0 0 300 19 412 Central 202,412 237 301 0 0 663 2,880 4,081 Dumfries and Galloway 111,434 159 64 0 0 457 124 804 Fife 259,961 449 131 22 0 825 334 1,761 Grampian 373,581 400 114 687 0 1,159 1,039 3,399 Highland 148,270 169 85 129 0 346 47 776 Lothian 578,982 875 339 113 0 2,388 688 4,403 Strathclyde 1,737,284 4,750 5,306 1,737 247 7,609 15,458 35,107 Tayside 291,682 578 67 450 0 843 118 2,056 Orkney 14,372 40 2 0 0 41 237 320 Shetland 15,982 18 3 0 0 51 190 262 Western Isles 22,165 16 5 0 0 112 5 138 All Scotland total 3,834,410 7,776 6,425 3,318 247 14,794 21,139 53,519 Notes:
1. The Lothian figure for foreign armed forces includes their dependents.
2. "Other" includes patients in residential homes, nursing homes or hospitals, members of religious communities, residents in Crown property, persons of no fixed abode, etc.