§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will make an order under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 confirming the charge caps on those local authorities which neither accepted the caps he proposed nor put forward alternative amounts within the statutory period of 28 days of their being designated for capping.
§ Mr. Chris Patten[pursuant to his reply, 19 June 1990, c. 477–78]: I have today laid before the House a draft order, under section 104 of the 1988 Act, setting out my decisions on the final caps of 16 authorities which did not accept the caps which I proposed for them and put forward alternative amounts within the 28-day period. I have carefully considered the cases which the authorities made in support of the figures which they suggested. In the case of Brent, Southwark and Wigan I have decided to increase the caps which I proposed for them by £2.5 million, £2.5 million and £2 million respectively. In the case of the other 13 authorities I have decided to confirm their caps at the level I originally proposed.
The 16 authorities and their caps included in the draft order are as follows:
440W
Implied reduction in budget £ £ million £ per adult Avon 507,100,000 26.6 37 Barnsley 132,000,000 10.0 59 Brent 244,200,000 5.1 26 Calderdale 125,400,000 7.5 52 Derbyshire 520,600,000 40.0 56 Greenwich 203,000,000 10.0 65 Hammersmith and Fulham 155,800,000 11.7 99 Haringey 206,500,000 10.0 71 Islington 185,800,000 3.7 30 Lambeth 285,100,000 8.8 51 North Tyneside 122,900,000 6.8 45 Rochdale 144,000,000 8.0 51 Rotherham 157,500,000 7.9 39 St. Helens 122,800,000 3.9 29 Southwark 229,400,000 11.6 71 Wigan 192,600,000 8.0 34 As I said on 6 June in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr. Hamilton), I laid before the House that day a draft section 104 order confirming Hillingdon's cap.
§ Mr. Ron BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate how many people have refused to pay the community charge; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chope[pursuant to his reply, 27 June 1990 c. 261]: This information is not available centrally but reports indicate that in many authorities over 80 per cent. of charge payers have begun to make payments and there are very few cases of wilful refusal to pay.