§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the proposed rate of poll tax for all councils and districts which have declared a rate, together with the average rate per head payable in the current financial year.
§ Mr. LeadbitterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of charging authorities which have community charges higher than the Government estimate and how many are less than that estimate; and if he will list the authorities.
§ Mr. ChopeI refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 21 February.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how the figure of £2,280.12 in paragraph
Standard spending assessments Education Personal social services Highway maintenance Other services Capital financing Total £ per adult £ per adult £ per adult £ per adult £ per adult £ per adult Waltham Forest 510 170 36 193 93 1,002 Enfield 452 110 38 134 82 816 Redbridge 414 99 36 136 65 751 Haringey 561 230 35 251 104 1,181 Hackney 701 344 40 359 124 1,569 Barnet 389 103 35 128 52 707
§ Mr. GouldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what gain or loss has resulted for Brighton borough council as a consequence of the reduction in the standard spending assessment for the borough; what was the comparable grant in the previous four financial years; and on what basis the assessment was reduced.
§ Mr. Chris PattenBrighton borough council's standard spending assessment (SSA) for 1990–91 reflects a 2.7 per cent. increase over the comparable figure for 1989–90 grant-related expenditure (GRE). It is not possible to determine what grant gain or loss has resulted for an authority as a consequence of a variation between its adjusted 1989–90 GRE and its 1990–91 SSA, because the methodology for calculating grant entitlement under the community charge system is different from that used under the domestic rating system. Brighton borough council's SSA was calculated on the same basis as that used for all other district councils, that is, the basis set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England).
§ Mr. MillsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the detailed criteria leading to the standard spending assessment for Solihull borough; and what assessment he has made of the resultant effect of his calculations.
§ Mr. ChopeThe details of the method of calculating the standard spending assessments for all local authorities are set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report
888W3.1a of the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) was arrived at; and what effect the choice of this figure has on standard spending assessments arrived at for Grimsby.
§ Mr. ChopeThe figure referred to was arrived at by my right hon. Friend after full consultation with local authority respresentatives. It has no effect on the standard spending assessment for Great Grimsby since, as a non-metropolitan district, Great Grimsby is not responsible for social services for children.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will set out the reasons for the variations in the standard spending assessment on a per capita basis between the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Enfield, Redbridge, Haringey, Hackney and Barnet.
§ Mr. ChopeThe standard spending assessments have been calculated according to the formulae set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). The results of these calculations for each service element are listed in pounds per relevant adult for the London boroughs requested:
(England) approved by the House on 18 January. The result of the calculations for Solihull is an assessment of £103.664 million.
§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an estimate of the total number of households in the London borough of Hillingdon that will be eligible for relief under the community charge transitional relief scheme.
§ Mr. ChopeI estimate that about 6 million individuals will be entitled to transitional relief in England. No estimates have been made of the number of persons eligible at the level of individual local authorities, but I understand that the London borough of Hillingdon has estimated that residents of more than 33,000 properties in the borough are potentially eligible for transitional relief.
§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial assistance the London borough of Hillingdon will receive under the community charge transitional relief scheme; and what estimate he has made of the amount of transitional relief available on a notional charge of £359, excluding any overspending by the council to(a) a single occupier whose rateable value does not exceed £94 and (b) two occupiers whose rateable value does not exceed £257.
§ Mr. ChopeFor the proposed arrangements for reimbursing local authorities for the costs of the community charge transitional relief scheme, I refer my 889W hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Central (Mr. Lord) on 15 February, Official Report, column 405. In general, the transitional relief scheme provides assistance where the assumed community charge next year is more than £156 above the assumed rates bill (defined as the rateable value times the assumed rates poundage) this year. In the examples quoted, however, the assumed charge or charges is less than £156 above this year's rates bill and no relief would therefore be payable.
§ Mr. CormackTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the estimated yield for the community charge in the year beginning 1 April 1990.
§ Mr. ChopeIt is not possible to make an estimate of the actual yield until charging authorities have set their charges. However, if authorities spend in line with the assumptions used for the settlement, charge payers will have to find about £7.55 billion, after rebates and transitional relief, towards spending of £32.8 billion. If authorities increase their spending, the burden on charge payers will be higher.
§ Sir Trevor SkeetTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the elements which make up the standard spending assessment relevant to local authorities for the purpose of the community charge.
§ Mr. ChopeThe details of the method of assessing standard spending assessments are set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) approved by the House on 18 January.
§ Sir Trevor SkeetTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the rate of inflation assumed for local authorities for the purposes of standard spending assessments.
§ Mr. ChopeThere is no specific assumption about inflation incorporated in standard spending assessments. However, total standard spending for 1990–91, from which standard spending assessments for 1990–91 are derived, is 11 per cent higher than the equivalent figure for 1989–90.
§ Sir Eldon GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about local authorities requiring community charge payers to make their payments by direct debits, standing orders or cash but not by cheques drawn on their bank accounts.
§ Mr. ChopeIt is for local authorities to agree with charge payers which method they will use to make payment. I should expect the local authority to have regard inter alia to convenience for charge payers and the cost-effectiveness for the authority of particular methods of payment. I am not aware of any authority that is refusing to accept cheques in payment of the community charge.
§ Mr. HoltTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) for calculation purposes to determine rate support grant in(a) Middlesbrough, (b) Stockton and (c) Langbaurgh, how many (i) one-parent families and (ii) black families were assessed as resident in the relevant areas;
(2) how much Langbaurgh would receive under the new grant scheme for local council support following the introduction of the community charge if (a) 2,000, (b) 5,000 and (c) 10,000 of its residents were black; and how much it is currently expected to receive;
890W(3) what weighting is given in calculating the rate support grant to the proportion of immigrants in the population from (a) the West Indies, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh, (d) Nigeria, (e) India, (f) Hong Kong, (g) Israel, (h) Australia, (i) New Zealand, (j) Canada, (k) Eire, (l)EEC countries, (m) Turkey, (n) Greece and (o) the United States of America;
(4) which are (a) the five local authorities which receive most support in cash terms and (b) the five authorities which receive the least support in cash terms under the current rate support grant scheme by virtue of the number of black heads of households.
§ Mr. FavellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) in real terms what was the annual local government net current expenditure per head of population in Stockport during each of the last three years for which figures are available;
(2) in real terms what was the annual local government net current expenditure per head of population in (a) Manchester and (b) Trafford during each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ChopeThe information is as follows:
Net current expenditure per head in real terms (1989–90 prices) £ Manchester city council 1987–88 804 1988–89 676 1989–90 704 Trafford borough council 1987–88 493 1988–89 503 1989–90 494 Stockport borough council 1987–88 475 1988–89 487 1989–90 466 Notes:
1. The GDP deflator has been used to convert cash values to constant prices.
2. Population figures used to derive per capita values are Office of Population Censuses and Surveys mid year estimates of total population.
3. Polytechnics were transferred from the local authority sector in April 1989.