§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many United States military personnel are living off base in the United Kingdom; and what estimate he has made of the lost revenue to local authorities arising from these persons being exempted from paying the community charge.
§ Mr. ChopeI have been asked to reply.
The Ministry of Defence estimates that 12,500 US military and civilian personnel currently live off-base. I estimate that if they were subject to the community charge for standard spending these personnel would pay a total of £3,475,000 to local authorities in 1990–91. Individual local authorities in England will, however, receive sufficient revenue support grant to enable them to set a charge, before the safety net, at the level of the community charge for standard spending (£278 in 1990–91) if they budget to spend at the level of their standard spending assessment. The grant system therefore compensates for the fact that US military and civil personnel do not pay the personal charge.